COVID-19 Kenya Project #48011

Coronavirus Emergency Food Distribution

by Springs of Hope Foundation

Mar 7, 2023

Our most recent food relief distribution to West Pokot & Turkana counties, Kenya.

By Antoinette Hoareau - Project Administration Manager

Some of out Turkana recipients

Following four successive failed rainy seasons, Kenya is amid the worst drought in 40 years. Crops have failed for the 4th season in a row, causing what little food there is available to be prohibitively out of reach for many struggling families. River beds have dried up in Northern Kenya, resulting in both wild and domestic livestock dying. Here is our Nakuru project manager's unedited report of our most recent food distribution to West Pokot and Turkana counties.

Hello Everyone,

Earlier this month Springs of Hope Foundation loaded two pickup trucks of food hampers to be transported by courier to Kapenguria, West Pokot, and Lodwar, Turkana. Our team led by myself, Administration Manager, Antoinette Hoareau accompanied by Nelson Kanandi and Joseph Lotukoi who are both medics departed the following day via matatu, spending the first night at Kapenguria and then proceeding to Lodwar, Turkana County the following morning. We attended a church service at KAG in Lodwar town and then Bishop Wilson Lokaale drove us into Nakaparan village, Turkana Central, 50 kilometers away to distribute our food hampers to the elderly, the disabled, and the vulnerable families, who do not know where their next meal will come from. They have several rivers running across their land, but all are dried up as they have not had rain for the past three years. Their land has dried up with no grass to feed their livestock, the majority of which have perished. The women dig holes in the river beds, hoping to get a few drops of water to drink. The water is muddy and brown, but that does not stop them from drinking it. They were gathered next to one of the dried-up river beds, where they all sat patiently listening to the word of the gospel from Bishop Wilson Lokaale, after which we distributed the food hampers. They were overjoyed to receive the food. They in turn danced and praised the lord for sending us. They prayed and said a lot of thanks. We drove back to KAG Church in Lodwar town, where we found more elderly people waiting for us. We distributed the food hampers and they were more than grateful, praying for the hands that contributed to the food hampers may be blessed abundantly. The next day we distributed food hampers to the elderly who were unable to come to the Church ground.

At 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, we boarded the matatu for the all-day drive back to Kapenguria, West Pokot. We departed at exactly 4 a.m. to avoid any confrontation with bandits during daylight. We arrived at Kapenguria, where Nelson Kanandi led us to the First Lady Scovia Kapchapin West Pokot County’s office, she warmly welcomed us to her office and after we introduced ourselves, she was kind enough to postpone all her other duties and agreed to accompany us to Cheptram Village, in Riwo ward the next day for our food distribution. The villages were anxiously awaiting our arrival and welcomed us wholeheartedly. The traditional dancers performed for us and after our First Lady gave her speech, we distributed the food hampers. The First Lady also contributed $1.00 for each recipient to enable them to take some of the maize to the posho mill to be ground into porridge flour. They blessed us with Maasai blankets to express their gratitude for our visit. The area is very dry with no signs of rain. It was unfortunate that we had to cut short my time with this mission and head back to Nakuru the following morning, Thursday as spending time with and assisting the people in these desperately dry and drought-stricken areas is such a privilege and joy for us. The following were the words from Cheptramp villagers a few days after we left:

"They really thank Springs of Hope Foundation for our kind gesture of traveling all the way from Nakuru into their village to bring food hampers of beans and maize to every family. The beans served as a supplement to their traditional ugali meal, milled from maize, which they had not had for a very long time. The beans were really tasty and made a very nice stew that serve them for days to come. A big Asante all'

Asante Sana,

Antoinette Hoareau

Nakuru project manager

We can't thank our generous supporters enough for allowing us to continue with this desperately need food hamper program through your kind donations. As we go into another season of very little rain in Esat Africa our fear is that many will continue to suffer from malnourishment.

Thank you so much,

Asante Sana,

Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom

A dried up river is the only water for many miles

The women walk for hours to fetch the muddy water.

Retrieving the muddy water is also very dangerous

Some of our very grateful food hamper recipients

Some of our elderly recipients of much needed food

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Dec 19, 2022

200% match on monthly donors until Dec 31st.

By Jennifer Hughes - Founder/CEO

Dear Friends,

I can't express how proud I am of Antoinette and the team of volunteers who embarked on last week's trip to the West Pokot and Turkana regions of Northern Kenya. East Africa has been devastated by the worst drought in 40 years. With little rain in the past five years, rivers and watering holes have dried up and people and animals are dying from a lack of water. It was a long and exhausting trip, but in every picture, everyone on the team is beaming with the joy of being able to give to those who are so desperately in need.
Here is Antoinette's unedited report about their trip.
Thank you so much to everyone who continues to support our work, making it possible for us to immediately say YES whenever asked to provide food and assistance to those in need in times of crisis.

Warmest blessings,

Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom
Founder/CEO
Springs of Hope Foundation

It was a long and exhausting trip, but in every picture, everyone on the team is beaming with the joy of being able to give to those who are so desperately in need.

Jambo Everyone,

On 28th November 2022, as the representative of the Springs of Hope Foundation’s Kijiji Mission, I was privileged to be invited to join a one-week mission to Central Pokot and Turkana counties in northern Kenya. Mr. Nelson Kanandi, a long-time friend of mine, and his team of volunteers from Kutus organized this long and desperately needed mission trip, asking the Springs of Hope Foundation if we could offer support by providing much-needed food hampers. Our students at Kijiji Mission were not left out as they got to prepare the 300 food hampers we were donating, allowing them, for the first time in many of their young lives to share in the joy of giving back to their communities.
Early Monday morning we loaded the food hampers and started our long journey, arriving at our first overnight stop of Kapenguria very late that evening. On Tuesday, after some mechanical problems, we started our journey to Pokot Central, a journey of 140 km into the village from Kapenguria town.

The Turkana food was packed and loaded on a truck due to security, arriving in Lodwar a day ahead of the team. The food was distributed to the elderly in the first group peacefully. In the second group, a huge crowd overwhelmed our team, they all wanted a portion of the food we were distributing at whatever cost.

As the crowd grew larger we were forced to abandon the distribution and could not manage to take photos of the scene. The area has been hit with severe famine for the past five years whereby both animals and humans have succumbed due to severe drought. The food was distributed to the Turkana elders despite the shortcomings and we look forward to distributing more in the future with the help of the local peacekeepers. They were extremely grateful for the kind gesture as most had not had anything to eat for days. We arrived at Lumot center, Mosel village in the evening. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we woke up at 5 am due to the heat, for the outreach mission in the villages, walking for 8 - 10 km carrying our food hampers to distribute from homestead to homestead in the scorching Pokot sun. The area is extremely dry, without rainfall for the past 5 years.

Most homesteads we visited had nothing to eat and most of the wives were young girls between the ages of 13 to 20 years old with 2 to 7 children each. Most children do not attend school. There is no electricity, toilets, or bathrooms in the area and the bush serves all. The young mothers have to walk 5 - 8 km to the borehole to wash their clothes, bathe, and fetch water on their backs while their month-old babies are being carried on their chests. Many young girls are looking for opportunities to be sponsored to further their education due to the lack of school fees. However, the only opportunity for these girls would be a boarding school and as I have mentioned earlier, most of these young girls are promised into marriage at a very young age, often to a much older man.

We arranged to have the group of 35 elderly transported down from Turkwel under security by bus. We gathered the group at the church compound and distributed our food hampers to them. They looked frail, hungry, and unwell.

We also had the security of the Pokot warriors, always close by as the region has suffered a great deal of internal tribal warring.

As part of our mission, we counseled the adults on the illegal, devastating effects of FGM, and early marriage on their daughters, which is still commonly practiced within these communities. We counseled the youth on early marriages, FMG, and the need for education.

They were overwhelmed after receiving our food hampers, they sang and danced in appreciation.
May you all be blessed in whichever way you participated in saving a life.

Asante Sana,

Blessings,

Antoinette

Most homesteads we visited had nothing to eat and most of the wives were young girls between the ages of
13 to 20 years old with 2 to 7 children each.
This pregnant 20-year-old girl that we met already had four children.

Because of you, our awesome donors, we can't say thank you enough. It's because of your generosity that we are able to say YES to our outreach programs when asked.

Asante Sana,

Jennifer

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Nov 23, 2022

Our mission to West Pokot.

By Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom - Founder/CEO

Hi,
At the beginning of the month, we were invited to accompany a group on a six-day mission trip into the severely drought-stricken region of West Pocot in Northern Kenya. Of course, we immediately said yes, as this region has been tragically affected by the worst drought in 40 years and is suffering from a severe food insecurity crisis.
It will take the team two days just to reach the region, so with the Springs of Hope Foundation's limited access to reliable transportation, this was an easy YES for us. Antoinette has been busy shopping for beans and maize all week, and our students have been busy preparing food hampers every evening in anticipation of Antoinette's departure on Monday, November 28th. We're all praying for a safe and blessed mission trip for Antoinette and the team.
Because of your continued support, we will be able to provide desperately needed food to hundreds of families in a region of Northern Kenya that has been severely distressed by the recent, devastating drought in this region.

Thank you so very much for making this trip happen,

Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom

Links:

Pokot Mission Trip 2022

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Nov 16, 2022

Please join us this Giving Tuesday Nov 29th

By Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom - Founder/CEO

On Giving Tuesday, November 29, from 00.01 am, US East Coast Time to 11.59 pm ECT, GlobalGiving will give away $1.2 million to vetted nonprofits around the world in bonus funds as part of their #MoveAMillion campaign for Giving Tuesday. Your donation will help the Springs of Hope Foundation unlock a greater amount of those bonus funds!

For the past three years Springs of Hope Foundation has provided tens of thousands of desperately needed food hampers to the elderly, single mothers, people with disabilities, and needy families within the communities of Nakuru, Kenya, and extending further north into draught-stricken regions of Baringo and West Pokot. The need has been overwhelming, but we have managed to do this and much more with your generous support.

Please join us on Giving Tuesday, November 29th. Together, we can reach as many women, children, and elderly as possible with our free food hampers. Please mark your calendar today!

Thank you for your continued support and generosity,

Warmest regards,

Jennifer Hughes Bystrom

Founder, CEO

Springs of Hope Foundation

Links:

BBC REPORT ON DRAUGHT AND FOOD INSECURITY IN EAST AFRICA

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Nov 4, 2022

An update on the amazing impact of your support.

By Antoinette Hoareau - Project Leader

As part of Springs of Hope Foundation's weekly food distribution program, last week we visited two of our favorite project partners, Malaika Initiative for People with Disabilities (Daycare center) which provides free therapy to children suffering from physical and mental disabilities due to cerebral palsy, meningitis and other birth defects. We are able to provide much-needed food hampers to the mothers, who find it very difficult to juggle earning a modest income as a daily house cleaner or field work and caring for the daily needs of their disabled child. Having a safe, reliable project such as Malaika Initiative is a true godsend to these over-extended mothers. At the request of the project manager, Lydia, our head teacher, Martha designed and taught our students how to sew reusable, washable diapers. Our reusable diapers have become a godsend to mothers as disposable diapers are an expense that is simply out of reach. On this trip, they also requested adult-sized diapers and plastic bibs. We also distributed our washable sanitary pad kits to the mothers and older girls. The donations will go a long way to help Malaika mothers as inflation has made providing one meal a day for their families very, very difficult.

The second group of (PWD) People Living with Disabilities that we have visited on a regular basis since the beginning of the Covid pandemic is at Shabaab Hall in a slum area of Nakuru. At the beginning of the pandemic, we distributed food hampers and facemasks. As we have come to learn of the many struggles this often shunned and ignored section of society has to struggle with daily, we have included washable diapers for children and adults living with disabilities and washable sanitary kits for teenage girls and adults. Most of the parents of children with disabilities are casual Labourers as they cannot hold full-time jobs due to the nature of their child’s disability. Due to their situation, most struggle to afford one decent meal a day. They also have to struggle to buy disposable diapers and medicine for their children. They are always extremely grateful to receive our food hampers along with the washable diapers and washable sanitary pad kits that will ease their struggle and now to keep their children dry and clean instead of using old rags. As for adults and the elderly living with disabilities, they have always had to rely on the kindness of family and community. The Covid 19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on this sector of the community. Our day ended with joy in our hearts knowing that we had made life a little more bearable and touched so many hearts.

Accompanying us were Regina and Susan our Kijiji Mission Project recent graduates who worked to stitch the washable diapers and pads while earning enough money to purchase their own sewing machines. They are now financially able to start their own business

During the week we were contacted by two new community groups, consisting of the elderly and disabled who need assistance with food hampers. The need is great and, despite the doubling of the cost of basics like beans and maize over the past 8 months, we always feel blessed that, with your support, we are able to say yes to the increasing number of requests.

Warmest blessings,

Antoinette Hoareau

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