Food and our responsibility
Posted by Saul Garlick, Executive Director
Two nights ago I went to dinner with a friend who works on food security issues at USAID. We were talking about the conditions in Kenya where SMRC works and in Southern Sudan, her portfolio. We talked about the food crises, the conflicts that have been worsened in Sudan because President Bashir of Sudan has shrewdly kicked out NGOs and what else can be done. I was thinking about what NGOs could do in Kenya – seeing that we have access – that is now impossible to achieve in Sudan because of political tactics (which have devastating results for the people there).
Then today as I got to the office, Vanessa alerts me to read an article about food in Kenya: http://tinyurl.com/dbxp6c. It appears things in Coast province and other areas are getting desperate.
While we are eager to get to work on development through asset assessments and thorough monitoring and evaluation of past projects and hopefully serving as youth catalysts for future projects, we must expect to be emotionally drawn to dealing with the immediate needs of the community – food for survival.
When Lily was leaving Kayafungo this spring, she noted that the food crisis was serious and that 3 people had died of starvation. It seems that while nothing is getting any easier in the community, we need a strategy to balance our development goals while working through a desperate situation.
