From the Field: Niger Famine Relief
 Even
the youngest Nigeriens are grateful for OBI's
help.
 Relief
supplies are prepared for distribution for hungry
Nigeriens.
|
David Darg and Jon Cassel are on the
ground in Niger, coordinating OB famine relief efforts.
David logged this report over the weekend. It's rainy season in Niger, crops seem to be growing,
the Niger river is swollen and the desert is full of
greenery. You could be fooled into thinking that the
situation here is no different from many other African
nations. The realization that this is a critical situation only
really hit me when I saw the people. They are desperate
for food, and this is a full blown famine. The
annual harvest in Niger is rarely sufficient
to get the nation through the dry season, and last year the
harvest was completely wiped out by drought and locusts. Most Nigerians had to ration what little food they
had and when that ran out they turned to eating leaves
and grass. This years harvest is on its way,
but for too many it would have come too late had the
world not paid attention. Many Nigerians have
already sold this years harvest on credit to survive
and are facing a downward spiral without outside
help.
While we were distributing food, the faces of the
Tuareg women in Bankilare were hard to bear.
Their expressions of hopelessness and longing were
a true reflection of Niger's status as the third
poorest nation in the world. This
situation has made me realize the power of hunger.
In the last few days I have seen people weak from malnutrition
using up what little energy they had fighting each
other just to get a place in the food line. An
elderly woman showed me the type of plant that
she and her family had been eating, and she cried and
gestured that she was hungry. She looked so frail I could
hardly believe that she was alive. Seeing
the children in the village of Sagafondo was equally
difficult. Famine isn't just about being hungry because
hunger leads to sickness and the children there were
sick. I watched as one of our partner
doctors tried to calm the mother of a baby that was on
the brink of death, its tiny body riddled with infection
due to malnutrition.
Despite the pain the people here have endured there
is a glimmer of hope on many of their faces after they
receive food and medical care. My own discouragement
at the situation has been broken by the smiles and
thanks we have been receiving from the people we help. As I prepare to leave Niamey again tomorrow for a distribution
mission in Bani Bongou, I am ready to again see scenes
of despair but also joy as we save peoples lives. How You Can Help Operation Blessing needs the support of people like
you to purchase and transport food to Nigerians struggling
to survive. Make a secure, online
donation today, and know that 100 percent of each
contribution goes directly to the field, bringing relief
and easing the suffering of families in Niger. |
]