URGENT - East Africa Needs Our Help

Posted Date: 17 August 2011 at 09:24:04AM

While I sit here fretting about the extra ten kilos I've put on this winter and desperately counting calories...children are dying by the second, of starvation, in East Africa.

As estimated in this Sydney Morning Herald article by Glenda Kwek last Monday 29,000 children under the age of five had died in the previous 90 days and 640,000 children were acutely malnourished. What do the numbers look like today?

I can't answer that question, but even if there were an improvement, according to the UN, it would still be considered the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

The disaster has now turned from a drought crisis to an actual famine and the world has fallen short with donations. Of the $2.4 billion the UN has requested from donor countries, it has only received $1.1 billion, that's a short fall of 54 percent.

If you want to help you can read up on the catastrophe, starting with the above article. If you're feeling particularly giving (or guilty in my case) you can donate, fundraise, rally your family and friends, do whatever it takes to come to the aid of the millions of people who are starving and without water while we all try our hardest to get rid of the puppy fat we've gained over winter. People are starving while we try our hardest not to get fat...how warped is that?

KHC recommends the following organizations for your donations -

The Humanitarian Coalition
https://www.helpforcharities.com/humanitarian/index.php?lang=en

UN World Food Programme
https://www.wfp.org/donate/hoa_banners

Unicef Australia (tax deductible)
http://www.unicef.org.au/

Australian Redcross (tax deductible)
http://www.redcross.org.au/default.asp

Doctors Without Borders
http://www.msf.ca/news-media/news/2011/07/humanitarian-crisis-on-outskirts-of-overcrowded-dadaab-camp/

Mennonite Central Committee
http://www.mcc.org/stories/news/mcc-requests-funds-e-africa-drought-response

World Vision Australia (tax deductible)
http://www.worldvision.com.au/Home.aspx

You may also want to see this CBC video with Bono and K'Naan singing "Stand By Me" in a concert to raise awareness about the crisis. K'Naan is an East African singer who grew up in Canada.
http://www.cbc.ca/eastafricarelief/howtohelp.html

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