In March 2024, about one hundred people pressed toward a metal gate at an abandoned school shelter in Port-au-Prince. Displaced by gang violence, they were seeking containers of rice and soup prepared inside.
The Associated Press recorded adults and children returning to the line for a second serving and being told to let others receive one. A queue can distribute scarcity fairly, but when the total supply is inadequate, the gate and guards become the boundary. This line did not solve hunger; it provided the minimum order needed to hand out a limited plate.