Harry Belafonte, just back from Africa, just back from handing out morsels of food to human beings wasting away before his eyes, acknowledged it was difficult to muster the inspiration to perform.

"It's hard to come back to this," Belafonte said, looking around the suite atop the Golden Nugget Casino-Hotel, where he performed recently. "It's hard not to stand up on stage and use (it) as a platform."

Belafonte, a member of the USA for Africa delegation that returned June 26 from a 16-day tour of the famine-stricken continent, walked to the window, pulled back the curtain and gazed at the crowded beach 20 floors below.