Starving Children

My head is swirling with thoughts of the drought and famine going on in the horn of Africa. If you want really sound insight on the matter, check out Dr. Jo's blog. She's a rockstar as far as knowledge and information. So, for the general information of what's going on, check out Dr. Jo's Africa cause I'm not going to get all technical.

Instead, I want to ask you when you hear the name/word Ethiopia, what do you think of? For those who know my sweet boy, you might think of him. Or those of you who have a personal connection through adoptions in Ethiopia, you think of that. But for most of the rest of Americans, with the mention of Ethiopia brings to mind the 1980's famine.

I debated on adding a picture cause I'm almost sure you had a picture in your mind. But friends, I'm here to tell you that the picture in your mind, or the one here to the right, has got nothin' on what's going on right now.

Even though you don't see it on the nightly news or on most facebook updates, a famine is happening. RIGHT NOW.

If you've read my blog at all in recent months, you know that we've adopted from Ethiopia. And following that, we returned to the area in Southern Ethiopia where our son was born to serve the widows and the orphans. We've been working with FOVC for the past 5 months. And the kids from FOVC are being affected by this drought. And the kids at FOVC haven't even seen just a tiny bit of what they're about to experience. Here's what I know from listening to details of conversations by the amazing Jo and Lory.

Today a lady showed up at the FOVC gate and began knocking. With her children in tow, she'd been walking for days to find FOVC because she heard they had food. Desalegn (the director) who loves everyone, couldn't say no to a person in need and gave her enough food for one day and sent her on. That's what we're supposed to do right? Give those who are hungry. The thing is that right now, did you hear that, RIGHT NOW, there's not enough food for the orphans that are part of FOVC. When we were there in June, the food prices had already jumped by 50%. On an already tight budget where they decide that 4 proteins a week are better than 2 meals a day, there's no extra money for increased food prices. So increased food prices on a set budget means less food purchased. And when you start giving away your decreased food supply, you quickly begin running out of food. Follow me on that thought? It's a hard balance to serve the community and the children in Ethiopia. The truth is that with drought in those areas comes famine. And with famine comes death. In Shanto. Those kids and community members we know and love. The ones we call our own.

See these faces on the left. These girls. They have names. They were wonderfully sweet. With one meal a day, an education and medical care, these girls finally have hope and a future. And these girls (whose names I can't share because of privacy requests) have names. Are people. And this famine, this drought, is affecting them. Is threatening their lives. Is causing them to go hungry.

The good thing is that FOVC exists to help. And they're doing just that. Amidst the regular life of FOVC development, the building of the orphanage, the raising of funds to furnish the orphanage, the developing the crops program, theirs a drought going on. If we at FOVC can feed them for 3 months to get through this period, then these beautiful faces will survive. The cost of doing so has increased because of the scarcity of food. So, FOVC, among regular life needs to raise $10-$12,000 dollars to feed the orphans at FOVC for 3 months. That's less than $2/day per child. How many of these beautiful faces would you like to buy food for over the next 3 months?

Yes, I agree $10-$12,000 is a LOT of money. Even to our wealthy American pocket books. But what I'm trying to share with you is that this is simply for survival. This doesn't give them a new outfit or a fun dessert, or a night out on the town. This is basic. survival. BASIC. I'm trying to explain it to you but even I can't fathom what they're going through. And this also doesn't include the many people who will be flooding the gates of FOVC because they know there's hope within those fences. This doesn't help the community that FOVC serves and loves. This doesn't help the many refugees who have fled Somalia and walked for days and days into Ethiopia to find food and water.

My friends, this is just a tiny bit of the story. I could type for hours to share with you about the impacts of the Somalis on the existing food crisis in ethiopia. Or about how some of the crops have already failed in and around Shanto. And for those who were smart enough to plant their crops with the rains, their is now too much rain which is devastating the crops. It has wiped them out too. Or about the roads being strewn with children and elderly who don't have the strength to continue walking and so they die on the roadside. Maybe I'll tell you about that tomorrow. For now, I think you have enough to chew on. And if you haven't read Jo's post, here's a link one more time because it's worth your five minutes to read.

People need our help. Are you willing to do something. Small or big. Can you do something? Pray, blog, give. FOVC is the only non-governmental organization in southern Ethiopia. You can give through them. They're a small org with boots on the ground and very, very little overhead costs (like less than 5%). You can give to FOVC through their website here. In the note line, write "famine".

If you have questions, please contact me at tam4buit at hotmail dot com.