Land of Carcasses | East Africa Hunger Crisis
Under the scorching sun, 10-year-old Ahmed treks long miles to find water.
On the way, he sees scattered carcasses of livestock and a foul odor fills the air.
A sinking feeling hits him, how long before it’s him?
Drought has besieged the lands in Somalia. No rain, no harvest, no livelihood. What remains are attempts to live to see another day. Parents feel the pulse of their children every night as they go to bed on empty stomachs…to check if they are still alive.
“When I’m hungry, my stomach hurts. If I don’t get food, I look for water to drink. I go play with my friends to forget my hunger,” says Ahmed.
Half of his classmates no longer come to school. As most of their parents are pastoralists, they have been forced to flee with their remaining livestock in the hope of finding pastures. At times, his teacher has no choice but to send Ahmed and his other classmates home as they can no longer fight the hunger and stay focused in class.
Conditions are deteriorating across East Africa, where 7.2 million people are at risk of starvation, and another 26.5 million faces acute food insecurity. At least 12.8 million children in the region are acutely malnourished.1
Disasters will not end but children, families, and communities need not be at their wit's end. Time is running out and action must be taken now to prevent the needless deaths of tens of thousands of children. Read more on our East Africa Hunger Emergency Response here.
1https://www.worldvision.org/hunger-news-stories/africa-hunger-famine-facts
