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FAMINE - HUNGER DESTROYING COMMUNITIES

By Vinie Widiasari

Thankfully, a famine is something a lot of us around the world have never suffered so far, but in large parts of Africa and Asia, there lies a situation completely different to ours.

Currently, the drought and famine in East Africa is causing much grief to communities and people of that region. The statistics are all over the news with millions suffering from malnutrition, many of those being children. Year after year of drought has compounded the effects to cause, what the UN has dubbed, “the largest humanitarian crisis in the history of the UN.” Over 20 million people spanning 4 countries are all suffering from starvation and famine. The claim is no longer hard to believe.

This is the reality for people living in East Africa. The fear and uncertainty of survival is suffocating within these regions. Families being torn apart all looking for some source of food or water. Mothers no longer being able to breastfeed their children due to themselves being malnourished. Parents forced to choose between which child to feed for the day. Can you even imagine being in such a situation?

HOW TO HELP?

Our first natural reaction is obviously to find out what they are running out from and provide it for them. Unfortunately, the best way to assist isn’t always as straight forward as it seems. With many organisations offering to send aid in the form of food containers, we need to ask ourselves, "Is this the best way to help?".

With many instances of food and aid containers being stuck in ports & not passing customs and getting spoilt, or containers with no one to distribute the aid (therefore accruing storage fees), the list of problems encountered can be endless. 

 

DONATING

Making donations may sound very cliché but they are in actual fact the easiest and most beneficial way to provide assistance to people within these starving regions. One of the reasons for this is that financial assistance does not cost thousands of dollars to transport and does not have an expiry date. Funding can be used as needed to stretch out the aid over a longer period of time.

Another reason is that funding can provide a range of much needed aid, purchased locally and without hassles, and is not restricted to food or water. In these difficult times, we often forget that medical aid is also a factor that needs to be addressed. By making a donation to a trustworthy organization like MAA, you are opening up your assistance to be used in the manner that will be the most beneficial to these communities at the time whether that be medical aid, food aid or water.

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