41 



There is enough literature available here in our country, there is 

 enough knowledge here that specific areas could be targeted. Just 

 like the man said this morning, "We were promised cows 12 

 months ago, but we don't know what happened to them." I would 

 not create anymore expectations that we cannot fulfill. That doesn't 

 do anybody any good. 



But how much food would be required for this, I don't know, but 

 at the same time, again, just yesterday I read a statistic that some- 

 thing like a little over one-quarter of 1 million fetuses and babies 

 die before they reach the age of 1 week just because of social and 

 economic difficulties. I would make this a total children's care 

 package, with nutrition being an integral part of it. Baby food is 

 always something that they ask for. They would like to be able to 

 set up baby food processing plants. But this is something that we 

 could send there relatively easily, relatively inexpensively, but it 

 would be a part of a total children's care program, including the 

 inoculations and other pediatric needs. 



Just to continue on, I would do this, again, in small communities 

 and rural communities, because if the children are taken care of, 

 then that would help. I'm a private farmer or I've just been given 

 the use of 40 hectares of land fi'om your farm, and you're not com- 

 pletely for that, but I have it. So you remind me, "Severin, the next 

 time your children need to go to the polyclinic or go to school or 

 your wife needs to come to the store here and buy something, you 

 can't do that, because you're no longer part of our farm." This 

 would be one way of helping to break — as my good colleague here, 

 Allan Mustard, says, that would be one way of breaking the stran- 

 glehold that the people in the countryside have placed on them by 

 the still-existing system. 



Mr. Penny. It sounds an awful lot like America's WIC program, 

 in which we would try to get the commodities to distribution cen- 

 ters — as you say, kindergartens, day care centers, et cetera, where 

 the children are — and then, in turn, send those specific nutritional 

 commodities home with those families. I appreciate your suggestion 

 in that regard. 



I also had a sense fi"om your written testimony that you believe 

 quite strongly that we ought to have a very focused approach to aid 

 and that we not take a scattergun approach where we try to do 

 more than we can actually do, but focus in three or four key areas 

 and provide the bulk of our assistemce in those areas. 



Mr. Severin. Yes. I feel very strongly there, and, again, I would 

 rather send a very, very few good people there than inundate the 

 place with people who may be well-intentioned, but not sufficiently 

 sensitive nor qualified. 



Mr. Penny. How do you analyze the existing VOCA farmer-to- 

 farmer exchange program, and how does that fit with your overall 

 theme of trying to provide support at the grassroots level, but also 

 trying to provide support that addresses all levels of need? 



Mr. Severin. I understand the principles of VOCA are to send 

 people there who have nothing to sell except their own good will 

 and their own experience and their willingness to help. That is in- 

 deed admirable, and so long as those principles are adhered to, 

 that's fine. I've had a personal experience that showed me that it 



