Report From CHRF Team Leader Directly On The Ground in the Somali Region.

For Safety Reasons the dates and locations have been removed from our Team Leaders Report but the News remains the same. We thank all of our CHRF Donors for making these life saving trips possible! “Never before (over the past 15 years) have I faced so many challenges in trying to help feed starving people (as in the Horn of Africa region). This must rate as one of the most difficult situations I have worked in, political interference, new requirements being introduced almost daily restricting our movement. Poor security with kidnappings and killings constantly taking place and increasing with each week. All this and that’s not even to mention the situation of the poor suffering. Good Somali Children and their families for whom each days is a tough struggle for survival.

It has been two months of battling along to try and help these poor people, but being blocked at almost every turn. We were able to deliver meals but not nearly as much as is greatly needed. It is also difficult for Westerners (who are being targeted) in some of these places, with numerous Western aid workers having being kidnapped. But in spite of numerous obstacles, I am happy to announce that we have managed to find an opening! Recently purchasing 100,000 pounds of food aid in the last 3 weeks (around 300,000 meals). And we are delivering urgently needed meals to people that are not receiving aid from the any other agencies. We are reaching out to both Ethiopians and Somali families who are suffering, there are some 12 million people are at risk across the region.” Indeed, recent reports from various news agencies and the United Nations indicate that 3.7 MILLION Somalis are “on the brink of starvation” with tens of thousands of people having already needlessly die because of the famine, war and starvation. The Team Leader Goes on to comment, “When we head back up to Ethiopia and Somali region soon for a delivery in Somali, I am hoping to get the total figure up to 200,000 Pounds in the next 2 weeks and a further 100,000 pounds next month”.

For all of the CHRF Donors that have already supported our efforts in the Somali Region, thank you for choosing to make a difference!