Blog: Emergencies

Wednesday, September 27, 2017 - 07:28 by

We can not forget about the 15 million children in eastern Africa going hungry

Amidst hurricanes and earthquakes, a paralyzing hunger crisis continues to grip millions of families in eastern Africa.

You could be forgiven if you’ve forgotten about it. In a media landscape dominated by entertainment personalities and natural disasters, the stubborn drought in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, along with the conflict in South Sudan rarely make global headlines.

Yet, this catastrophe is very real.

A generation of children is...

Eyewitness to Crisis: Turkana's malnourished children continue to be at risk

Just before my heart broke, I was cheerfully chatting with a hospital head nurse.

And then I heard her.

Two-year-old Scholastica shrieking in a high-pitched tone. Her tiny voice doing the only thing it could, cry in pain.

Approaching her metal bed in the Lodwar County hospital, it became apparent something was desperately wrong. Her emaciated body was brittle, she wore the clothes of a newborn, despite being age two.

Her mom told me she could...

Working with Human Being

I love working with children especially for the most vulnerable. But, I have never worked with most vulnerable children as natural disaster victims. But, I did.

Last month, in the early of July 2017, as a NDMT (Natural Disaster Management Team) member, I was deployed to Tolitoli, a district in Central Sulawesi, in order to response of flash flood in some urban and rural areas. It was a little district city that was called ‘Clove City...

Helping refugees adapt, get new skills and start businesses

“Working with refugees is mending broken hearts and restoring lost hopes,” says Tafessech Tessema, a mother of two and World Vision humanitarian working in Ethiopia’s largest refugee camp.

“Every day I travel 50 km drive from Gambella town to Kule camp to visit the refugee community. At the camp I have to walk house to house on my feet to undertake my day to day responsibilities,” says Tafessech, a livelihood specialist.

“This is a disease prone area, when you...

Sadia's story: “No one paid attention to my cries”

Fidele Nindaginye, World Vision’s child protection in emergencies specialist for this emergency met with eight-year-old Sadia from Ngagala* community, 120 kilometres from Diffa, Niger. She shares her tribute for the great and life changing work of World Vision’s response staff dealing with the Lake Chad Basin crisis. Below are her words.

One day, I was crying alone amidst a crowd of adults. They did not pay...

A children’s refugee crisis offers a chance to do things differently

By Kevin Jenkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Vision International

A children’s crisis that almost no-one has heard of is unfolding in Uganda, which is now home to half a million boys and girls who have fled terror in South Sudan.

Every day, more than a thousand youngsters are among those crossing the border. About a hundred arrive alone and with tales of...

Main casualties of hunger crisis in Kenya are children

Main casualties of hunger crisis in Kenya are children

You cannot tell a child to vivify an action when that child is hungry and in dire need of just a simple meal or water. It is impossible. When you pay a visit to some of families affected by hunger in Kenya and look at the state of children and their need to have food, you are heartbroken and shaken. The state of affairs at how much hunger crisis is affecting mostly vulnerable children in...

Somalia’s starvation crisis: May he live, may he live… I prayed

I recently visited the town of Baidoa in Somalia that is now ground zero for the aid response to a starvation crisis that has left almost three million people...

Join churches worldwide for the Global Day of Prayer to End Famine

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…”

- Matthew 25:35 (NIV)

More people face famine today than any time in modern history.

Our world is experiencing a hunger crisis so large that the United Nations is calling it “the largest humanitarian crisis since 1945”. Famine has been declared in areas of South Sudan, with Somalia...

Coping with life away from home

As we drove towards Dhuyacley IDP camp, located between Luuq town and Hanoy village in Luuq district, Southwest of Somalia there was little activity going on. A few men could be seen putting up makeshift shelters with available sticks while women and children were seated next to their temporary homes. As soon as we pulled over, a large crowd gathered around, probably hoping or wishing that we had brought something for them. The new camp is hosting 200 families who migrated...