By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service

PETIONVILLE, Haiti (CNS) — Hundreds of people lined up in the center of Petionville early Feb. 1 as the U.N. food distribution system began making its way into the neighborhoods and suburbs of Port-au-Prince.

Nearly three weeks after the Jan. 12 earthquake destroyed large portions of the metropolitan area and beyond, the U.N.’s World Food Program made its first visit to suburban Petionville, located in the hills overlooking the Haitian capital.

Lamise Felix feeds her 4-month-old baby, Estelle Simeon, outside their tent on the Petionville Club golf course, now a camp coordinated by Catholic Relief Services for quake victims. CRS is worried about the oncoming rainy season and the critical nees for shelter and sanitation. CNS PHOTO/BOB ROLLER

As hundreds of people flocked to the Petionville City Hall to register for cards entitling them to a 110-pound sack of rice, a slightly smaller group of people waited patiently for their allotment outside the National Police station fronting the town’s central park.

“I’m very happy,” said Daniel Jonel, 26, as he waited behind a security detail made up of U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal backed by members of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. “I feel good.”

Jonel had waited in line for five hours to get the cherished food entitlement card. He planned to share the rice with friends staying in the tent camp that has filled every corner of the park.

Just yards away, dozens of people waited patiently for their chance to get food. Most said they had no cards but that they hoped to get any rice that might be left over after the distribution to people with cards.

“I don’t have any hope (of getting anything) because I don’t have a card,” said Mary Clare Eugene, 52, with tears welling. Her husband died in the earthquake when their Petionville home collapsed. “I’m hungry,” she said.

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