Last year the rains failed to arrive in the Shashemene District of Oromiya Regional State, causing a severe drought and food crisis.
The lack of water meant crops failed and farmers were unable to provide livestock with adequate pasture and water. Without crops to harvest, families had no food to eat, nor any to sell in order to buy food. In some regions of Ethiopia, the cost of staple food products rose by as much as 300%.
ChildFund Australia’s partner organisation in Ethiopia implemented an emergency feeding and famine recovery program. To date, over 27,000 kgs of food rations have been delivered to 2,000 children under the age of five. As a result, the number of children suffering from moderate or severe malnutrition has reduced from 58% to 11% in the target area.
ChildFund Australia supporters alone raised almost $400,000. This has enabled ChildFund Ethiopia to distribute 80,000 kgs of maize grain to adults in the community, while the nutritional status of nursing mothers has been monitored and improved so that they are now able to breastfeed their children.
Abadi, ChildFund Ethiopia program manager, says: “It is common now to see children smiling and playing everywhere, as opposed to the very depressing situation at the onset of the emergency.”
To assist in the recovery process, ChildFund Ethiopia has also provided materials to construct 15 rain water harvesting cisterns, drought resistant cops, as well as ongoing education on food security. Livestock have been replenished, with ChildFund providing families with 500 sheep, 30 oxen and 15 donkeys and carts. These measures will allow the community to resume their agricultural activities in order to support their families.
After corresponding for many years, Australian sponsor Alice finally met Piraton in person … in Kenya.
I have been sponsoring 13 year-old Piraton in Kenya for the past five years through ChildFund Australia. Last year, my mum Sue and I decided to travel to Kenya so that we could meet Piraton in person.
My mum and I had an incredible six weeks in Africa but undoubtedly the most rewarding and overwhelming day was visiting Naningoi Girls School in Kenya. It was a long five and half hour drive to get there, sometimes on non-existent roads, but the reception we received made it all worthwhile. The people were so welcoming and genuinely excited to see us that it was very touching. Piraton’s father had walked for a few days just to come and meet up.
While at the school, older pupils performed for a traditional dance for us, and we presented Piraton and the school with some gifts – including the Australian childhood classic Possum Magic.
I hadn’t event been sure that they would know we were coming and that was the biggest, most ridiculous silly thought I’ve ever had! Their generosity, particularly given they have so little, was incredible. After lunch, we visited a nearby village where Piraton stays if she can’t get home during the holidays (because of floods). Again, the reception was overwhelming – dancing, presents and meals prepared for us.
During their visit, we were accompanied by ChildFund staff, who were able to update us on development initiatives in the areas of healthcare, education, food security, water and HIV/AIDS. The whole day was spectacular and we were so impressed by the integrity of ChildFund. We were also invited to visit the head office in Nairobi and that gave us a great insight into how things are run.
