Eastern Africa Food Crisis

Did you know that as we sit down and eat our three meals a day there is a Food Crisis going on in Eastern Africa?  They are currently experiencing the harshest drought they have had in recent decades. 

In Kenya alone 3.5 million people are in desperate need of food.  A thought provoking perspective easily shown is; the population for a state in the United States, Connecticut is 3.5 million people.  Can you imagine if the population of Connecticut was being swept out by a famine? What would the US do for them? But there’s more, in all 13 million people are affected by this terrible drought.  The three areas where the drought is most prominent is Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. My heart breaks for the people who are starving literally to death.  Could you imagine if you could not fulfill your hunger every time your belly grumbles?

This drought is said to be the worst drought in 60 years.  Before this famine was even declared it is believed that tens of thousands of people have died due to starvation. The estimate is that 15% of children are severely malnourished.  This means if they do not get food within a couple of days; death could result.  The region of Turkana has been hit the hardest by the famine.  Their malnutrition levels are exceeding 37%. 

I want to ask the question why we have heard nothing about this in the news and why it is not being broadcasted as much as it should be.  It’s sickening to think that 1/3 of the American population is obese, while this nation is starving.  I think as a nation we need to OPEN OUR EYES to what is going on around the world and stop overfilling our needs and to help others. 

To help with relief efforts you can go onto the website http://worldrelief.org/ and donate money.

Open Your Eyes Up

I want to tell you a story, a story of struggles, famine, and perseverance.  A story about a place that has so many hardships but always strives to see them through.  This story is about a place dear to my heart, this place is Africa.

DID YOU KNOW?

·         Did you know there are 54 countries alone in Africa and half of them have a starving population?

·         Did you know that in these countries there are 370 known tribes and many of them don’t get along?

·         Did you know there are over 2000 languages spoken in Africa, which causes a barrier for communication between individuals?

·         Did you know that the population of Africa is 654 million and one person dies every minute?

QUICK HISTORY

Over the years Africa has drastically changed and it has not been for the best.  In the 80’s was when Africa stated to show signs of digressions.  Brittle children suffering from hunger became more prominent especially in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia.  Civil wars began to break out between neighboring countries.  In the 90’s it only got worse especially when the AIDS epidemic broke out and families were torn apart by deaths.  If that wasn’t bad enough Africa economic status began to decline and the African government was running out of money to help there people.  Africa in its current state is still affected by many hardships and is only getting worse.  I think the reason why it is getting worse is because people are giving up that Africa will change.  Many people have been very gracious to this grief stricken country but little progress has been made.

FUTURE FOR MY BLOG

In my future blogs I want to make my readers aware of the horrific things going on in Africa.  As I began researching upcoming blogs I could possibly do, I became guilt stricken because I feel as if I’m doing enough to help this country.  I was also angry because a lot of the topics I was reading up on had never been in the news.  I think it’s sad that Americans know more about celebrities than the crisis going on around the world.  In a sense though it made it real to me why I was writing this blog; I am writing it to get awareness out and advocate for Africa.  Some of my future blog topics are going to be about poverty, famines, DRC, Child soldiers, AID crisis, and Rwanda.  I hope that when my blog comes to an end that I have opened people’s eyes to what is going on just 8,562 miles away.