As I read the paper the other day, I couldn’t help but cry. The big brown eyes of a beautiful 3-year old were staring at me from the front page. His eyes reflected desperation, confusion, saddness. He is suffering – along with thousands of other innocent people – during the worst drought in 60 years to hit the horn of Afria. Crop and livestock loss, combined with shockingly horrific disregard for human life and complete lawlessness, make this boy’s homeland perhaps the most desperate place on earth.
As of this week, more than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died as a result of the famine, and some estimates suggest as many as 600,000 precious little lives will be lost before the year ends. Can you imagine the horror and terror their mothers felt as they watched their precious babies starve to death? Here I am, worrying about organic apples vs conventional ones, and there are mothers on the other side of the globe wondering if their children will have even a crumb today. It is horrible and terrifying.
I started to fret because I felt so helpless. What can I possibly do to alleviate some of the suffering? In good conscience, none of us should be able to sleep at night when something like this is happening to human beings who are just like us. I can’t travel to the refuge camps in Kenya to aid to the sick, but I wanted to do something. Then, I remembered this blog. More than 500 people check out this site everyday, and 500 of us can start to make a difference.
So, I am asking all 500 of you to please donate just $1 to the World Food Programme http://www.wfp.org/crisis/horn-of-africa. If you can, donate a few more dollars for the people who might read this and skip to the next site. If you’d rather give your $1 to another deserving organization, click here for a list of reputable groups.
My apologies to the photographers who took the above pictures. I wish I could give you credit, but I just grabbed these off the internet. Thank you for sharing.
Homemade Mothering is a movement that aims to simplify life and foster self-reliance while being kinder to our families and the planet. Its about encouraging people to get back to the basics when it comes to mothering and homekeeping. 
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I donated in honor of Mia. Wish you would’ve warned about the pictures but am glad I could do something to help.
What a nice way to honor Mia! Her sweetness is really spreading!
I think this is a wonderful reminder about how blessed our lives are and how many aren’t so lucky. I want to donate but first wanted to ask if you knew what percent actually makes it to the people in need? I’m just curious and want to make sure to give where it’ll do the greatest good. Thanks!
I don’t know exactly what % is sent directly to those in need, but here is a list of reputable organizations. Any one of these is likely deserving of your donation:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43841708/ns/nightly_news/t/famine-horn-africa-how-help/#.TkZr7GGwUgq
Such a great call to conscience for all of us. Every morning I get up cranky that I haven’t had the baby yet, and I’m greeted with those haunting eyes on the front page of the paper. I’m reminded that I have so little to truly complain about and that I’m called to just Do Something, no matter how small.
A small donation sent! THank you for sharing!
Thank you for this plea. I had been thinking of doing the research to figure out how to plug in and I am so grateful you told me how. I loved your comment about the apples – So often it also makes me realize how petty the things I worry about seem when we see reality in another land.
I passed this along on my FB page. I hope it’s more than $500. I grew up in Africa … I cried in my husband’s lap the night I first read about this. I couldn’t imagine walking away from my baby as he withered away.
Thank you for putting this out there for your readers.
I too have donated in memory of Mia. May we, as mothers, reach out to these children who are in desperate need.