Thursday, July 14, 2011

Real Hunger





Real hunger is an experience I have never had. I can only try to imagine the hopelessness of needing to feed my family with nothing left at home while drought and poverty block all attempts to get more food. For miles, as far as can be seen, there is little relief. Prices for simple items such as beans and maize sky rocket beyond reach. Desperate neighbors steal from meager gardens. Schools close because even the government hasn’t the means to conjure lunch food where there is none.

This is a picture of much of Kenya today. Even Humble Hearts School, having planned ahead by trying to develop self-sustaining farm projects, is facing the challenge of caring for the children amidst these complicated problems. Beatrice writes:

Can you believe that maize has gone up to 6,000 shillings a sack?! Many schools and homes are finding it very difficult to feed children. There are schools even thinking of closing until they can get enough food. I visited the farm where we had grown maize and had thrown in a few beans. We were able to harvest four sacks which will last us two weeks, though we had to rush to harvest them since people were stealing them from the farm. There is so much hunger in Kenya right now; we were among the few people who planted early so our beans were ready before the others. The maize will be ready in September -we are hoping to harvest at least 50 bags. We intend to sell half to support the farming and feed half to the children. It will be a great relief when we can harvest the maize from the farm.

Each week, Angel Cottage and Humble Hearts School must reevaluate and ration their resources in order to feed the children who are in their care. The teachers and families helping are always willing to labor tirelessly in order to harvest and prepare whatever can be gathered to feed the children. I am humbled and amazed by their persistence and dedication! We need more help, however, over and above the financial commitment our wonderful sponsors continue to send. The children for whom we care and guide toward a better future -need food. It’s that simple. They are hungry and need nourishment to survive, let alone grow and thrive. Please help. A monthly donation commitment or a one-time offering for this purpose can do so much toward making sure Humble Hearts will not have to tuck hungry children into bed at night, or God forbid, close its doors. Across this globe, there is provision for people in need. Please consider extending a portion of your abundance to meet a portion of their great need. Thank you!

Ida McManis

Humble Hearts School Sponsorship Coordinator

http://angelcovers.org/donation.html




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