TONNY ONYULO reports on how churches and faith-based organisations are helping to provide the most basic of needs to people in East Africa left with nothing to eat…
Nairobi, Kenya
As millions of people in East Africa face starvation due to severe drought, dozens of churches have stepped up to try and alleviate the suffering. The churches are reaching out to families in their homes, schools and camps to provide for the most basic needs of people who have been left with nothing to eat.
Internally displaced children wait to receive food aid at a distribution centre in El Wak, a town in southern Somalia. PICTURE: Tonny Onyulo.
Christopher Lemuya, a herdsman in Kakalel, a village in northern Kenya, said his family had been going for days without meals forcing them to take refuge at a nearby camp to benefit from food being donated by well-wishers including churches to the people residing in camps.
“Hunger is biting everyone here, and the situation is so bad. There is no food people can eat, and people, especially children, are dying from acute hunger. People have left their homes and moved to other regions and refugee camps to save themselves from starvation.”
– Christopher Lemuya, a herdsman in Kakalel, a village in northern Kenya
“Hunger is biting everyone here, and the situation is so bad,” said the 55-year-old father of seven. “There is no food people can eat, and people, especially children, are dying from acute hunger. People have left their homes and moved to other regions and refugee camps to save themselves from starvation.”
Lemuya said the drought could have killed many people had it not for the intervention of the churches, well-wishers and government.
“Some families can now afford meals at least twice a week because of the donations they receive from well-wishers. However, other families are still suffering and dying because they haven’t received any food donations,” he said.
The situation in Kakalel village and other areas in northern Kenya mirrors other parts of East African countries. More than 20 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya are struggling to find enough to eat, and more than a million have fled their homes, according to the United Nations.
The most severe drought in 40 years, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine that has led to the rise of food prices, and ongoing conflict and violence in the region have contributed to food scarcity and insecurity. The drought has killed crops and livestock such as camels, cattle, sheep, and goats – which are the lifeline for most residents of East Africa.
Across this region, millions of adults have lost so much weight that they are almost skeletal. Children, meanwhile, are so weak, they have trouble moving.
In Kenya, for example, the World Health Organization estimates that about 3.5 million people are facing food insecurity due to low rainfall resulting in poor harvests, death of livestock due to severe drought, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The drought situation is so bad here, and it has negatively impacted the people of Kenya, especially those living in the northern part of the country,” said Pastor Geoffrey Eloto of Joyland Pentecostal Church in Lodwar, a town in northern Kenya. “The people’s livestock has perished because of the drought, and the residents have been unable to harvest anything due to three consecutive poor rainy seasons.”
“In every village you visit, you will see emaciated children and their weak parents begging for anything they can eat. On the roads, you will see skeletons and carcasses of animals that have died because of the drought,” he explained.
Several churches and other faith-based organisations have been distributing relief food to drought victims in northern Kenya and other parts of East African countries to cushion residents from hunger and starvation.
Pastor Eloto said his church which has been receiving donations from well-wishers, has been visiting families in their homes to distribute relief food such as maize, beans and cooking oil as part of the intervention.
A Somali woman with her children at Dadaab, a semi-arid town in northern Kenya near the border with Somalia. Nearly a quarter of a million people are on the brink of starvation in drought-struck Somalia as food prices soar, United Nations agencies say. PICTURE: Tonny Onyulo.
Since this year, for example, the church has reached out to more than 1000 starving households in Turkana and other regions in northern Kenya.
“We have been visiting families everywhere to ensure they don’t die of hunger,” said pastor Eloto. “Unfortunately, we can’t reach out to everyone because of limited resources. We appeal to everyone to come and help these vulnerable populations with food and other essential items.”
The Salvation Army, an international Christian religious and charitable movement organised and operated on a military pattern, has been targeting schools in northern Kenya to ensure no absenteeism of school-going children due to famine.
Thousands of schools in northern Kenya have been affected by the ongoing drought resulting in mass dropout of students. The church said that because of a biting drought and famine, thousands of learners were no longer attending classes as they were busy looking for food and water to drink and for their animals. Others had moved to other regions or camps to save themselves from the looming famine.
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The Salvation Army Kenya East Territorial Commander, Commissioner Margaret Siamoya, said they were targeting schools to relieve drought-stricken parents from paying for meals for their children and ensure all children remain at school despite the biting hunger.
In October, for instance, the Protestant church distributed food items worth $US380,000 to nearly 60 schools across northern Kenya. The food items included dry maize, beans, rice, sugar, cooking oil, and water.
“We plan to expand this program to reach out to more schools in the region and ensure learners remain in class and concentrate on their studies like any other children in the country,” said Siamoya. “We appeal to stakeholders to come and assist these children by providing meals and ensuring they remain in class and achieve their dreams. This program will also attract more learners to school because they will be sure to get a meal while attending classes.”
A child carries her sibling in El Wak, a town in southern Somalia. Millions of Somalis are facing severe food shortages due to conflict, COVID-19, and disasters caused by climate change PICTURE: Doreen Ajiambo.
The Catholic Church, which is helping drought-stricken communities around the country, has appealed to well-wishers to exercise humanity by donating food to those affected. Through their dioceses in the country, the church has been providing essential food items such as maize, rice, cooking oil, baking flour, sugar and salt to suffering families as a result of famine.
“Let’s support each other, especially when some other families sleep without a meal,” said Philip Anyolo, the Archbishop of Nairobi. “I want to urge Kenyans and well-wishers to embrace the spirit of sharing and donate food items to starving families across the country.”
Finn Church Aid, Christian Aid, Caritas Internationalis, and other faith-based organisations are also assisting families suffering from starvation in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. In Somalia, for example, Finn Church Aid has been helping most disadvantaged families, especially in south-central Somalia, with relief food and cash assistance to cushion them from starvation.
The organisations have been appealing to other international partners and governments to assist Somalia and other countries to help avert large-scale starvation.
“There are many ways to help in this situation. One of them is to raise awareness. It is good to remember that even though the West is facing difficult times, crises like the famine in Somalia are happening all over the world,” Ikali Karvinen, Country Director of Finn Church Aid in Somalia, appealed recently in a statement.
