"Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom."
Nelson Mandela
Drought, high food and fuel prices, conflict. Add indifference and/or slow reaction from the international community on a large scale, lack of clean water and the terrible effects on animals and land. The result is almost 12 million people at risk in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.
Echoes of 1984-1985 crisis in Ethiopia haven't fully disappeared while it's effects are still felt. It's about time to show it to ourselves that we learned from that and ACT NOW.
The UN have declared famine in parts of Somalia but the situation worsens each day and it doesn't need to be officially called that to be taken seriously.
Children are the group who is most exposed to the effects of the food crisis. According to UNICEF - " Almost 500,000 children in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya are suffering from imminent, life-threatening severe malnutrition. In addition, over 1.6 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished."
Video available for download on World Food Programme site
Providing relief is up to us.
Each of us can donate time and money to help those in need.
Each of us can donate time and money to help those in need.
World Food Programme have put together a small quiz. For every person who takes this short quiz on the drought in the Horn of Africa, a child will receive a warm meal thanks to an anonymous donor to WFP.
http://gifts.wfp.org/quiz/hornofafrica?lead_source=fbshare-wfp-hoa-quiz
Sign petition on ONE International web page and "call on governments to save millions of lives in the Horn of Africa - today and tomorrow."
http://act.one.org/sign/horn_of_africa/?source=horn_of_africafb
Sign petition on ONE International web page and "call on governments to save millions of lives in the Horn of Africa - today and tomorrow."
http://act.one.org/sign/horn_of_africa/?source=horn_of_africafb
You can also help with donations to and/or volunteer to help:
Spiegel OnLine - A Catastrophe in the Making
Oxfam - Famine In Somalia: What Needs To Be Done
WFP - Fleeing From Famine In The Horn Of Africa
ONE - One Partners Respond To Horn Of Africa Crisis
1 comments:
"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."(Matthew 25:31-46)
Thank you for this moving post, Mike.... so wise to remind us of "Man in the mirror" ´s message.
Let´s all take this catastrophe as a task to do good and show our humanity.
Like an indonesian friend has put it "We are what we give". So let´s start giving...
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