Four palettes and 1.15 million tables and sachets were deployed to Kenya yesterday (July 28), the latest salvo to fight the drought in Eastern Africa.
Provided by GlobalMedic’s Rapid Response Team in partnership with Toronto’s Somalian community, the latest emergency relief effort will provide more than 11.5 million litres of clean drinking water to stricken areas in Kenya and Somalia, an effort essential in preventing the spread of waterborne diseases, according to a July 28 news post on GlobalMedic.ca.
Impacting more than 11 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Uganda, this horrific Horn of Africa drought — already labeled as the worst that Eastern Africa has experienced in 50 years by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) — has resulted in severe food shortages.
The Canadian Government, through its East Africa Drought Relief Fund, has pledged to match each dollar pledged by individual Canadians to registered domestic charities between July 6 and September 16, up to and including donations capped at $100,000.
GlobalMedic is an eligible Canadian charity, but not the only one offering emergency relief in conjunction with East African drought: The Red Cross has also committed $1 million towards alleviating this crisis, with funds raised also distributed between school feeding programs, borehole rehabilitation, water trucking and food distribution.
Canadians can also text the word “AFRICA” to 30333 to make a one-time Red Cross donation of $5.
To donate to the Canadian Red Cross, go here: http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=40114&tid=001
To donate to GlobalMedic, go here: http://globalmedic.ca/programs/view/horn-of-africa-drought-response
Canada has contributed $72.35 million this year to Eastern Africa humanitarian aid, according to the Government of Canada web site.
Read Samaritanmag.com's feature story on GlobalMedic here.
