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This Valentine’s Day, send your heart to the Horn of Africa. While many of us are showered with affection this time of year, 1.5 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia are surviving only because of the compassion you’ve shown them. We’ve accomplished so much already with your support. But the fight is far from over. Carmen, you can help deliver lifesaving food, clean water and vital medical supplies to families in the Horn of Africa and others in urgent need around the world. Make a donation today in honor of a loved one, and send them a special Mercy Corps Valentine eCard to commemorate your gift. In some regions, the rain has started to fall, but it has often brought more devastation instead of relief. Roads that deliver critical food and supplies are flooded and impassable, and contaminated water is fueling the spread of diseases like cholera. Although most media attention has moved on, the crisis persists — millions are still in need. Every day, children and families are still going hungry. With your support, Mercy Corps can help families recover and rebuild, by providing job training and small business grants, and helping farmers boost their crop yields through drought-resistant seeds. Together we can offer long-term solutions that will help keep families alive — and help them thrive in the future. Please send your heart to the Horn of Africa today, by making a gift in honor of your loved one. Your compassion will change lives — in the Horn of Africa and around the world. Sincerely,
Dan O’Neill Founder |
Tag Archives: Horn of Africa
Don’t let Congress Take Food From Hungry Families
| For people living on the brink, food aid is a lifesaver – literally. But if some members of Congress get their way, programs that give food to people in desperate poverty worldwide will face drastic cuts up to $500 million. We can’t let Congress make cuts that could force millions of families to go hungry. » These days it’s more important than ever to keep support strong for hungry people around the world. Between the crisis in the Horn of Africa leaving millions on the brink of starvation and economic hardship leaving families hungry in every corner of the globe, the cuts to funding Congress is considering will mean people die of starvation. As Congress continues to push to cut the tiny part of our budget that goes to help stop starvation among the world’s poorest, we need to take action now to save millions of lives. Add your voice to the movement today: tell Congress not to cut food assistance for impoverished families around the globe. »
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Big news in our fight against hunger … MercyCorps
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There’s a hero in all of us. Give now. | |
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At Mercy Corps, we believe there’s a hero in all of us.
That’s why we’ve joined forces with the Justice League and DC Entertainment to bring lifesaving aid and long-term solutions to hungry families in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.
Your gift today to the Horn of Africa Hunger Crisis Fund will be matched dollar for dollar as part of DC Entertainment’s commitment to match 100 percent of the first $1 million in donations to the “We Can Be Heroes” campaign.
We’re partnering with the team behind Batman, Superman and the rest of the Justice League to raise awareness and money for a crisis that’s fallen out of the spotlight.
Our first priority is to support our mobile medical clinics in Ethiopia, which offer lifesaving aid to mothers and children under 5. These clinics visit the most remote, drought-stricken communities and provide malnourished infants with immunizations, antibiotics, vitamins, medicine and therapeutic food to help them gain weight.
Life remains grim throughout the Horn of Africa. Every night, 13 million people in the region go hungry. Last year’s worst drought in generations dried up drinking water sources, decimated crops and livestock and left families destitute and unable to make enough to even feed themselves.
Scattered rains brought some relief but also flooding and disease. Conflict and lasting effects of drought has left millions of families struggling to escape hunger’s grip.
One small act can make you a hero. Please join our fight against hunger in the Horn of Africa today.
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Crisis update: Water deliveries expand to Mogadishu
 Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy CorpsOur efforts are reaching more than 825,000 people in Africa‘s drought-stricken Horn. Read the latest on our response › |
The crisis in Africa’s Horn may have fallen off the front pages, but the situation “continues to deteriorate,” according to the latest UN update. Children five and younger are increasingly dying from hunger and disease. Reports of cholera, measles and malaria are on the rise, too. And famine is expected to spread across even more regions of Somalia.
Here’s the latest update on our lifesaving response:
Somalia: On Friday we made the first of daily deliveries of clean drinking water to a displacement camp in Mogadishu. It’s home to tens of thousands of people who’ve flocked to Somalia’s capital seeking refuge from the drought.
Ethiopia: Seven mobile health teams in the hard-hit Somali region continue to provide vaccinations, medical check-ups and fortified food to pregnant women and children under five. We’re also trucking water to remote communities along the Somalia border, and helping herders sell their weakened cattle for cash to meet urgent needs.
Kenya: We’re reaching nearly 200,000 with clean drinking water, trucking it to several dozen villages in drought-stricken Wajir County.
With your support, teams in all three countries are working around the clock to help families survive. Forecasters are now predicting less-than-average rainfall in October, which would only prolong the current crisis — and the recovery.
Thank you for all you’re doing to save lives in Africa’s Horn.
Sincerely,
Neal Keny-Guyer
Chief Executive Officer
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What I’ve seen in Mogadishu … Cassandra Nelson
I’ve spent the last few days with Mercy Corps‘ emergency team in Mogadishu, Somalia‘s capital, where drought, famine and disease are taking a devastating toll. In more than a decade of responding to many natural and man-made disasters with Mercy Corps, the situation in Mogadishu is truly the worst humanitarian crisis I’ve ever seen.
Because your gift is helping save lives in the Horn of Africa, I wanted to write and let you know how desperately your gift was needed: Hospitals are overcrowded. Displacement camps are filled with thousands of people. Families have walked for days to find a way to keep their malnourished children alive, and now the hospital is full of mothers sitting with their malnourished babies on scraps of cardboard because there are no beds or chairs to be found.
It’s hard to look at such scenes, but it’s important to show the world what’s happening in Somalia
What we saw in Mogadishu’s hospitals was truly heart wrenching. Seven-month-old Abdulrahman, pictured above, is getting treated for malnourishment and diarrhea but remains very weak. I appeared on last night’s CBS Evening News to share what I saw. Click here to watch .http://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=V3lSY41Q9JfJhCMuDp%2BNXXFYrzBidpxn
The segment includes my footage from a hospital we visited, where I met Halima, the mother of seven-month-old Abdulrahman. Halima’s family lost all their cows and goats to the drought, and so they recently came to Mogadishu in search of food.
Little Abdulrahman is weak and much too small for his age. He’s suffering from severe acute malnutrition and watery diarrhea, a symptom of cholera. Halima and her eldest daughter have been at the hospital for several days getting treatment for the baby boy.
When I returned a day later, I found Halima still holding tight to Abdulrahman.
“He is getting better,” she told me with determination in her voice. “He will survive.”
I believe her. It may be hard to fathom that such strength can exist during famine, but I’ve seen it in countless women like Halima. They are determined to save their children.
Our staff is working hard to get aid to families in Mogadishu as quickly as possible. Because of you, I know we can help people in Somalia survive this famine. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Cassandra Nelson
Mercy Corps
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