Help East Africa!
There is a whole lot going on in the world right now. In London, people are rioting or carrying out an insurrection depending on who tells the story. In Lybia, rebels aided by the West are trying to wrestle power from infamous Muammar Gaddafi. In the United States, political brinkmanship has resulted in volatile financial markets and fears of a double dip recession. In Syria, there is a stalemate between protesters and President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Of all these crisis in the world, there is one that has been tugging at my soul more than the others: the drought in the horn of Africa. In East Africa, there is an unprecedented food crisis - the worst in 60 years. At this very moment, millions of people including children are facing starvation. It is often tempting to tune out all the turmoil in the world because one is not directly affected but there are easy ways to take action and have an impact with little disruption to our daily routines.
My post today serves the dual purpose of highlighting two initiatives that are already having an impact and of raising awareness about the need for long term solutions.
The first initiative is by an international independent organization that is creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world. The second initiative is a partnership between the Kenya Red Cross, the Media Association of Kenya, the Kenya Commercial Bank, and Safaricom Foundation that seeks to raise 500 million Kenyan Shillings to provide relief to the most affected parts of that country.
Save the Children East Africa Appeal : Download Bob Marley & The Wailers’ 1973 track, High Tide or Low Tide, as all proceeds from each download sale go directly to the fundraising appeal for East Africa.
Kenyans for Kenya : Members of the public including Kenyans at home and abroad are being encouraged to send in a donation of a minimum of ten Kenyan Shillings to the M-Pesa pay bill number Triple One, Triple One [111111].
In terms of long term solutions, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai identifies the underlying causes of the recurring crisis and provides a plan of action to bring relief to the region. Listen to her interview with NPR host Michel Martin.
