Kenya Drought

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Kenya Drought

Description

Please act now to help vulnerable families in Kenya, especially those with disabilities, who are facing extreme water shortages and life-threatening starvation.

LOCAL PARTNERS

  • Kenya Red Cross (KRCS)
  • AIC Health Ministries and Dioceses of Meru
  • County Governments of Meru and Tharaka Nithi


THE URGENT NEED

Right now in Kenya, 3.5 million people face starvation and extreme water shortages. Half of them are children. Experts predict that the problem is set to double if action is not taken immediately.

Yet the international community is not paying attention. Why is Kenya being overlooked? In a word… war. The daily scenes of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have dominated news headlines for months and the world has not yet woken up to what is going on in Kenya. Yet the situation is dire. And if nothing changes, millions face disaster. We must act now.

God calls us to help “the least of our brothers and sisters” (Matthew 25:40). And right now, that means the people of Kenya. Especially those with a disability.

The world may be looking the other way, but we cannot. We must respond right now.

Every day counts. And every gift counts. Please will you rush your urgent gift to us today. It WILL save lives.

cbm-funded partners are ready to provide urgent humanitarian relief to the most vulnerable children and families, especially those with disabilities. But as the scale of the crisis grows, your help is urgently needed to reach more children and adults facing life-threatening starvation.

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” – Hebrews 13:16

This is a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis. People are in desperate need of urgent support from generous people like you.

Please respond to this growing humanitarian crisis by sending your generous gift to help vulnerable people today. Thank you.


WHAT YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT CAN HELP FUND

Your generous gift today will help provide much needed food, water and other basic items to individuals and households (including family members with disabilities), who are most at risk in Meru County, Kenya.

Your gift will also help households of people with disabilities to get urgent access to medical supplies and mobility aids they need to survive this crisis.

MORE ABOUT KENYA

Kenya has a population of 53.7 million people who are facing one of the most severe droughts they have ever had to endure. The drought has been driven by three consecutive failed rainy seasons since 2020, and this dire situation is forcing families to take desperate measure to survive. There has been an increase of epidemic diseases for both human and livestock, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in enhanced vulnerability of the already struggling population.

High levels of food insecurity are being reported with people going without adequate food for days and on the brink of starvation. The lack of fresh produce and protein in meals (as they rely on grains for long shelf life) are negatively affecting their nutrition levels. Increasing prices further limit the diversity of diet, and the lack of rain continues to impact harvests.

Health facilities are limited, under resourced and geographically distanced. And access to these vital health services is even further restricted for people with disabilities, the elderly and pregnant women, due to limited, expensive and potentially inaccessible transportation.

Farming, agriculture and livestock were previously key to providing sustainable food sources but are no longer tenable due to a worsening cycle of flood and drought. Poor farming techniques and deforestation have also negatively impacted viability.

Please will you respond to this growing humanitarian crisis by sending your generous gift to help people facing life-threatening starvation today. Thank you.

Additional information

Frequency

One-off, Every Week, Every 2 Weeks, Every 4 Weeks, Every Month, Quarterly, Annually

Sofia

Please will you send an URGENT gift today, to help people with disabilities, like Sofia, caught up in an evolving food crisis in Kenya...

“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” – Hebrews 13:16

Since we last wrote about the Kenya crisis back in September 2022, the drought situation there is now even worse.

Murray Sheard, cbm NZ CEO, visited Kenya where we have teams on the ground responding to this desperate crisis, particularly in areas where people with disabilities are being left behind. He’s seen with his own eyes the utter devastation this drought is causing.

Farmers are literally making the choice – whether to plant the seeds they have, in the hope their crops will grow, or give them to their families to eat.

Men, women and children, including people with disabilities, are dying of starvation. It’s that simple.

Murray personally urges you to join with him, in providing the life-saving support people desperately need right now to survive.

Please send your life-saving gift now to save the lives of children and their families most in danger!

Your gift will help people with disabilities get access to emergency food, clean water, medical supplies and mobility aids!

Just imagine... a mother who can’t feed her child, each morning they wake up hungry and she has nothing to give them. Nothing!

We’ve heard stories of how mothers try to cope to keep their children fed… going without food themselves so their babies have something to eat.

This is what is happening to families, like Sofia’s, in Kenya right now.

The drought is killing livestock in their droves, with over 2.5 million having died already. Next it will be the children.

Please will you send an urgent crisis gift right now? Your gift will be used immediately to help protect children and their families facing starvation.

Our front-line teams are working with over 1,000 families who are facing starvation right now and need immediate support.

One such person you will be helping is Sofia – she is so brave.

Sofia has a disability which means she struggles to stand… but this doesn’t stop her going to work on other people’s farms as a casual labourer.

There’s nothing ‘casual’ about it though.

Sun-up to sun-down in the burning heat. Swinging a hoe into the rock-hard ground. Trying to ignore the pain shooting up her leg, and the never-ending ache that makes it feel like her back is breaking.

“It is such a challenge to do farm work because of my leg. Even walking can be a challenge.”

It’s thirsty work, but there is no water, the nearby river has dried up.

Sometimes Sofia can make it down onto her knees, and scrape out a hole, and wait for some brown water to seep to the surface… and hope it doesn’t make her sick… but most days she has no choice:

“I rely on my children to look for water. I am a person with disabilities. I can’t carry water myself.”

Many children are already weak and sick. In fact more than 640,000 children are acutely malnourished.

Children who must now make a two-hour return trip on foot carrying a heavy jerry-can of water on their head.

Our heart breaks when we think of the suffering. But we know together we can make a difference. We must make a difference.

Your urgent action is needed right now to protect the precious lives of children and adults with disabilities threatened by the food crisis in Kenya.

In this evolving food crisis, every day counts… so please will you prayerfully consider sending your gift today. No matter how much you give, or how you give it, your gift helps, thank you. Please act right now, to help children and adults on the brink of starvation.

Your gift will go straight to work where it is needed most urgently, to help a family like Sofia’s where disability makes the threat of starvation even more serious.

Every life matters. And every gift will make a life-changing difference and be directed to where it is most urgently needed.

Your gift will help people with disabilities, and their family, get urgent access to food and water supplies. This is vital because there is very little work on farms for Sofia to earn the money she needs to buy food for her family.

“The crops are drying up. The farmers don’t want to waste their resources as there will be nothing left to harvest.”

Sofia used to ask her neighbours for help, but now they too have nothing left to share.

Your gift will help people with disabilities and their family get urgent access to medical supplies, protecting them from the effects of malnutrition.

For people with physical disabilities, your gift will provide them with the mobility aids they need to access the distribution points to survive this crisis.

This crisis is real and it’s devastating. As we write to you, more than 5.4 million people are on the brink of starvation. But we must act now, to save as many lives as we can.

The power of your gift is significant. Your one gift can help one person, it can save one life.

In times like these, we believe God works through us, His followers. Calling on us to serve others, where and when our service is needed most. Please will you send an urgent gift today.

In a food crisis such as this, where starvation looms, and children’s lives are at risk, time is of the essence. Please send your urgent gift today to help save precious lives. Thank you.