ReliefWeb

With severe drought gripping many parts of East Africa, millions of people are facing possible starvation in the coming months. David O’Hare from Trócaire recently returned from northern Kenya where he saw the impact of the crisis on people there.

Mary Nakodos Lokerian walked for 13km to get to the emergency food distribution funded by Trócaire near the centre of Lodwar town in northern Kenya.

Mary has eight family members that she cares for. She said her whole family is hungry. The drought has killed their animals and because she is blind there is no other work she can do to earn money for food like gathering firewood or making baskets.

The emergency food distribution centre is targeting vulnerable groups including the elderly, people with disabilities and those living with HIV.

Some of the people had walked for hours in the burning sun to get to the distribution point. There they waited patiently to receive 1kg of maize and 1kg of beans.

The people living with HIV received some fruit as well – without it their medication would make them violently sick.

Elsewere, at the Trócaire-supported St. Mary’s Primary Healthcare Centre in Kalokol in northern Kenya, Florence Asimtai (29) has brought her baby, Esinyen, to be weighed and assessed for malnutrition.

Florence is a single mother with four children and is among the most vulnerable experiencing the impacts of the drought in Turkana. The baby was weighed at the clinic and he was around 7.5lbs – the weight associated with a typical newborn here at home. Esinyen is eight months old.

Both Florence and the baby are HIV positive and have been receiving medical support at the centre. She lost her husband three years ago and has since become destitute with no means of earning a living for her four children.

The health of both Florence and the baby had deteriorated drastically when they were first brought to the health centre but the life-saving medical support they received made a great difference. Their health has improved since then but the current drought is threatening to undo that progress.

Many of the children who have been brought to St Mary's healthcare centre are very obviously malnourished and it is estimated that half a million children under five in Kenya are at risk of starvation in the coming months.

The clinic weighs and examines the children.

The mothers of those who are identified as high-risk are given ‘Unimix’ to feed their children. This is a high protein, high vitamin supplement. The children are brought here once a month and this will continue until they are five years old so their progress can be monitored and any necessary support given.

At St. Lwanga Nakwamewi Primary School in Lodwar, northern Kenya only half of the school's 1,400 pupils are attending. The drought has meant children are having to tend what animals are still alive while parents search for food or work. Those that do attend school find it hard to concentrate because they are hungry.

Learn more about Trócaire's response in Kenya and throughout East Africa at www.trocaire.org/east-africa