Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya have been struck devastatingly hard as the drought in these already famine stricken countries has reached catastrophic levels. Millions of people – mostly children - have seen the mighty hand of fate strike them down and are in desperate need of critical supplies like water, food and basic sanitation, supplies that we take for granted. A minimum of 10 million people have now been affected in these countries, especially in Somalia and the regions of southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya and without aid this number will rise and will continue to rise into the unforeseeable future. Entire communities have literally collapsed; livelihoods have already been damaged beyond repair, it is up to us as human beings, as brothers and sisters to all those afflicted, to save our people from an undeserving fate.
The United Nations has raised its food security alert to maximum level and Khalsa Aid is responding. We have worked in incredibly dangerous areas such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and most recently at the Libyan border. Now we are working closely with local organisations and the Sikh community in Kenya to send a team of volunteers to the Kenya/Somalian border – one of the most dangerous places on Earth - to assess the situation and to initiate aid operations. This team is being led by two men who have seen the devastation caused by the drought first hand and are willing to do everything in their power to provide relief work - Sukhraj Singh ( Nairobi ) and Hassanm Maowyare ( Nairobi ). Their initial relief program will be targeting Somalian refugees crossing the border at Loboi, providing much needed aid. Khalsa Aid will be looking into setting up long term relief projects in the Horn Of Africa, but at the moment quick relief is vital and so the short term projects will involve the delivery of food and water to as many famine stricken refugees as is possible to provide for; however, the more support we receive, the further Khalsa Aid’s reach for providing this relief will stretch.
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As always, Khalsa Aid will be doing everything to ensure that the delivery of aid materials reaches the most needy and that local partners have the capability to handle the mountainous task of distribution. The projects initiated will inevitably be supported on the ground, by KA volunteers from Europe and North America who will are being prepared to go out (if you are interested please contact us). Hassan has already spent 3 days on the Somalian border assessing the situation and developing contacts with local NGOs to set up safe and efficient distribution centres, Jaswinder Singh Bahra has flown from the UK to Kenya on Wed 3rd August to co-ordinate all aid operations with Hassan and the local Sikhs in Kenya.
The Sikh ethics of Sarbat Da Bhalla and Vand Kay Chakna never had a deeper, more powerful meaning than it does today. In recent times nature has struck a mighty blow to human beings around the world, showing us just how small we really are. But let us regroup and unite; let us send our own tidal wave of support rushing towards those who need it most now, so that we can show the world and show each other that there is more than just one mighty force present on this planet.
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