East Africa

I have some family members on my mind today.  Hurting for them.  No easy answers...

East Africa is on my mind too these days...and I can't get the images of malnourished children out of my mind.  You too? There is so much disparity in this world and it makes me feel sick, with sadness, with anger...and then this causes me to look at my own heart, my own tendency to look away from other's hurt, my tight grip on what I think of as "mine".  And that makes me feel uncomfortable and I don't like it.  But what if that were my child?     

Last year I read a book about 11 (mostly Somali) refugees who came to Canada with student scholarships, from the biggest refugee camp in the world - Dadaab, in Kenya.  (now 400,000 people, including three generations of people) It's called "Citizens of Nowhere". I encourage you to read it! I think I liked the story of the student living in Brandon Manitoba the best, because I have been there.  Maybe I have eaten at the Tim Hortons where he worked.  It was hard to imagine anyone moving from one culture into a more different one and it was interesting to see our city through his eyes. The Dadaab camp has been named one of the worst "refugee protratcted situations" in the world, meaning that people are exiled with no solution in sight.  And now I am hearing about this camp in the news  - and how the numbers are swelling yet again because of this drought...I saw pictures of mothers waiting with their babies, hoping for water, for food - after walking days.  

MSF information video about Dadaab camp

And what is our part in this?  What is our responsibility?  Father God, help us (me!) to honor you with a right attitude in our (my!) hearts about money, to give generously and not withhold good from others when it is within our power to do so.    

Here's one way to do that:
http://www.mcc.org/eastafricadrought