Humanitarian mission ships out to feed a country

CHESAPEAKE

Mary Ann Hudson is on a mission.

But she's not a missionary. She's a cargo ship.

After the vessel arrived in port Friday, its red hull swallowed up thousands of tons of corn and soybeans at the Perdue grain elevator in Chesapeake. It is scheduled to leave today or Thursday for a 30-day journey to North Korea - once dubbed a member of the "axis of evil" by President Bush - where it will deliver 25,060 metric tons of food to hungry citizens.

North Korea was removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism this weekend after agreeing to continue dismantling its nuclear program.

The Mary Ann Hudson's shipment is part of a federally funded aid program led by five nongovernmental organizations - Mercy Corps, World Vision, Samaritan's Purse, Global Resource Services and Christian Friends of Korea. The groups' goal is to alleviate hunger in North Korea, a problem that spiked this year after storms and flooding diminished the country's 2007 harvest.

"Basically they didn't have a very good year agricultural-wise," said James Jones, a program specialist for World Vision's global food resources team. "And normally they're a food-deficit country anyway, so they don't have enough to feed their country."

The North Korean government usually distributes 600 grams of food to each person daily, said Paul Majarowitz, director of the North Korean food program for Mercy Corps.

But this summer, he said, the food shortage had reduced that ration to 150 grams, less than a McDonald's Quarter Pounder.

So the organizations teamed up and began shipping corn, wheat, soybeans and other food commodities to North Korea. The U.S. Agency for International Development agreed to donate 100,000 metric tons of food to the program and cover roughly $10 million in additional costs, Jones said. USAID also is donating an additional 400,000 metric tons of food to North Korea through the U.N. World Food Programme.

"Our assessment team observed a deterioration of the food situation," Majarowitz said. "What we're trying to prevent is a severe situation from happening."

The five organizations have sent 20,200 tons of food so far, with the first shipment arriving July 1, Majarowitz said. The World Food Programme has sent an additional 98,000 tons.

The 611-foot Mary Ann Hudson, a U.S.-flagged vessel managed by U.S. United Ocean Services, is the first ship in the program to leave from the port of Hampton Roads.

The shipment moved to Hampton Roads because of hurricanes disrupting Gulf Coast ports that have handled the other shipments. On occasion, other food-aid ships have loaded in Hampton Roads.

When the food arrives in Nampo, North Korea, in mid-November, representatives with the nongovernmental organizations will work with the communist government to ensure it goes only to the intended beneficiaries: children between the ages of 6 months and 10 years, the elderly, and pregnant and nursing mothers, Jones said.

"We can't feed the entire country," he said. "So we do have to target the most vulnerable."

The food is handed out through public distribution centers and institutions such as schools, hospitals and orphanages. The program will continue through June and benefit roughly 894,000 people, Majarowitz said.

Capt. Steve Asimakopoulos, master of the Mary Ann Hudson, said the majority of the vessel's business comes from delivering humanitarian aid.

"You don't see where it goes and how it's used," Asimakopoulos said. "But you're helping people, you're feeding people, you're giving people resources they wouldn't otherwise have."

Programs such as this do more than just fill empty stomachs, Majarowitz said.

"I think these types of programs where we actively engage with people in North Korea show that the American people care and that there are issues such as hunger that transcend politics," he said. "I think it opens up the opportunity for dialogue at the very least around humanitarian issues and hopefully around other issues of common concern between the North Korean people and the American people."

Kathy Adams, (757) 446-2583, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com