To her relief, she found her daughter, Ivena, safe in the company of close friends. But those friends had nowhere to go to escape the devastation. They asked to come with her back to Gonaives.

"I couldn't tell them no because they were the ones who took care of my daughter in Port-au-Prince," she says.

With that act of kindness, Guerriere's household swelled from 10 people to18; nearly twice as many mouths to feed but no extra resources to feed them.

Food, money running out

Now, 11 weeks later, her food reserves are gone.

She is forced to sell her livestock to pay for food. And with no money for seeds, and insects attacking her crops, the next harvest is at risk as well.

"We don't have money to buy insecticide," she says. "The little money we have goes to take care of the kids."

All across Haiti, families who struggled to feed themselves before the earthquake now find themselves with hungry guests.

VOA - J. SwicordThe Guerrieres have been forced to sell some of their livestock to pay for food.

"The people who left Port-au-Prince brought nothing with them but their appetites," says Charles Edie, chief of agriculture for the government of Artibonite department, where Gonaives is located.

An estimated 60,000 people arrived in Artibonite alone, increasing the population by about 20 percent in a matter of days. At first, food aid helped some families ease the burden. But Edie says that first stage is coming to an end.