(ANS – Madrid) – After an urgent appeal launched in the last few days by the Madrid Mission Office, Misiones Salesianas, about the serious drought in the the Horn of Africa, the first funding is starting to materialise.

The Spanish Mission Office was informed that the refugee camps in Kakuma and Dadaab, and the mission stations in Korr and Nzaikoni, all in Kenya, were in a state of emergency through lack of food and water. In response to these needs, Salesian Mission Offices      have sent over 200,000 euros to buy food and provide for the basic needs of the population in the Horn of Africa. The countries receiving aid have nothing to offer. Both refugee camps and Salesian centres are overcrowded, with thousands arriving every day to receive food and water.

"Every day we have to organise ourselves as best we can to buy bread, milk, sugar, gas... the basics, so that the children do not die from hunger. Any mother will know what that means", explain the Salesians missionaries at Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The missionaries are working here so that more than a hundred children between the ages of 5 and 8 can receive food and education. "At present the situation is very difficult because it’s not just the children who are with us. In the community there are almost 10,000 people in need of urgent assistance."

80% of Ethiopians earn their living through farming. The drought which is afflicting the Horn of Africa is causing crops to be lost and animals to die from lack of water. There is a state of alert in the entire area, where more than 12 million people are suffering from a severe shortage of food and drinking water. In addition, Ethiopia and Kenya are receiving a great influx of refugees from Somalia, fleeing from famine and drought but also from conflict and instability in their own country.

In Kenya, Salesians look after about 200,000 people in the areas of Nairobi, Kakuma, Korr and Nzaikone; in Ethiopia they work in the areas of Addis Ababa, Debre Zeit, Adua and Adrigrat and they are also providing meals in the camps at Aware, Dollo Addo and Gogti.

Published 10/8/2011