Special Appeal for children displaced by drought

Climate change is a real problem for those of us who live in parts of the world feeling the impact of changing weather patterns.  Only a few years ago, we were desperate to help people in our region suffering the effects of prolonged drought and, with the help of donors like you, we were able to relieve suffering and offer alternative lifestyles to some, to enable them to escape reliance on rainfall for traditional farming methods.  

Many of the youths who sought refuge in town to escape the drought have been incorporated in our various training programs, enabling them to set up their own small businesses or to find employment.  Whether we like it or not, the old cultural lifestyles that sustained families in rural areas are increasingly under pressure from climate and population changes and alternatives must be found.  Families are moving into urban areas to escape impossibile conditions and to avoid them living in squalor and poverty in towns, we must help find ways they can sustain themselves.  To this end, we have increased the numbers of youths we train, year on year.

Sadly, you will have read in the newspapers, or seen on television, how we have gone to the other extreme this year.  In recent weeks, our rainfall has been at record levels. This should be our 'short rains' and start of the long, dry season.  Instead, we have extreme flooding and landslides which have killed over 50 people and displaced hundreds.  This flooding was sudden and unexpected.  One couple lost seven children in a landslide. Bridges have been destroyed. These are the same regions that were subjected to  drought only a few years ago and the suffering endured is heart breaking. 

The needs of people in these areas are the same.  They need alternative methods of support and many will need to permanently move out of areas prone to climatic disasters.  We are now involved in helping build new homes for those displaced by floods, emergency aid to get children into schools in January and assistance in finding suitable income streams for those who have lost livelihoods.  Please help us. 

Links:

• Our facebook page with recent news articles

Since our last report, we are delighted to tell you that, after a long and slow start, the rains have been fairly consistent and it will soon be time for harvesting Kenya’s main staple crop, maize. That maize will be dried and stored or sold as needed.

The maize used as a food source in Kenya is not the ‘sweetcorn’ that we in the west buy to grill on a BBQ in the summer or put in our salads etc. This maize is much more starchy and not as sweet. When freshly picked, it is a popular roadside snack – freshly barbecued and is just as delicious as its sweeter cousin, but much more filling. Once the maize kernels are dried, they are stored until needed for the two main dishes that Kenyan families rely on. One is called githeri, a carbohydrate and protein rich meal of boiled maize and red kidney beans. The other dish is ugali. This is similar to grits in the USA or pap in South Africa, and is widespread in Africa (by different names). The maize is ground to a flour and added to boiling water to make a very thick porridge which solidifies and is eaten with whatever vegetables and sauces can be put together. A thinner gruel called uji can also be made from the maize flour and this is a breakfast porridge. Sometimes the grain is mixed with other grains such as millet or sorghum. Maize is valued highly as it is so filling and relatively cheap. So, a failed or poor harvest can be disastrous.  Fingers crossed...

Emergency supplies of maize and beans continue to be sent to those families living in the arid north of the country whose usual income from livestock herds was devastated by famine conditions. These areas cannot produce sufficient food crops to be life sustaining and hardy indigenous breeds of goats and cattle are relied on to produce food and income to enable families to buy goods such as beans and maize. The after effects of famine are usually felt for several years until livestock herds can recover. Many of these families have become disillusioned with this lifestyle and are migrating further south in hopes of settling down to farm in better areas or to seek employment in urban centres. This migration may slow if we have a couple of years of consistently good weather but, we have to look at the long-term future for these tribes if climate change continues to impact them detrimentally.

So, we must continue to provide emergency relief to those needing it whilst simultaneously looking at ways we can welcome migrants into new areas and provide them with sustainable income generation to support their families. We continue to do this through our projects and, this year, have increased the number of youths in our vocational training programmes three-fold to enable them to support their parents/siblings and, in time, support their own children.  Many of these youths had little or no schooling and we have formed exciting partnerships with local apprentice trainers and vocational colleges to enable those struggling with illiteracy to access training and obtain certification. These programmes have been tailormade by us and, after a very successful pilot programme in 2018, we anticipate a real change in the ability of families to support themselves effectively. Some may choose to return to the communities they migrated from, utilising their new skills but, if they choose to stay, they will be self-sufficient.

Thank you for helping us to make a difference!