My Blog

mendenyo April 25, 2011

My friend Sam has sent terrible news
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From: Samwel Kongere <jambita1@yahoo.com>
Date: 25 April 2011 15:07
Subject: [mendenyo] Horrible! Horrible!

As most families become stressed with life, a woman with sound mind decided to burn her two young sons because of small potion of food. The young miserable children are now bed ridden at the local health centre. The mother is under arrest but how can we help these two crying children, i know everybody is over burden, over stressed, but famine is doing devastating impacts. To many in our village accessabillity to food, no rainfall to us plant, how long is Lanina for us? We better share the merger resources to help the needy access health, education, food, and clothing! We should live in a world without leadership, proffessionals, polictical capitalists, let's ' Help the people of Rusinga Island' are some orgs to help? If there are, then we need your whatever helping hand now.
Samwel.
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I have no idea how to respond - I wrote:
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Pamela McLean <pamela.mclean@dadamac.net>
Date: 26 April 2011

Sam this is truly horrible and shocking and I do not know what to do in response.

I have to acknowledge that I have read your email - but I do not know what to do bout it. I feel that you have some expectation that I will somehow be able me to mobilise all the resources that you need to solve this problem and I have no idea how huge those resources would need to be and how I would go about it. Perhaps you don't expect that, but I think you must be hoping it, but I am not a fundraiser and I do not know how best to help. 

You cannot solve this problem on your own, and I cannot solve it for you either on my own. I wonder who we might go to for help. I do not know the best thing to do. I will make a start by sharing your email with other people. I will see if anyone has any suggestions for what is on the ground, anywhere near Rusinga Island, that we might call on for support.

Pamela
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I am thinking that I do not understand. If there is a need for food aid then where is Oxfam? Where is the Red Cross? Where is the FAO? Where are the organisations that do know how to provide help in these circumstances? How do we act to mobilise the organisations who have people and resources and experience ready for situations like this? Do we need to find out what they are doing near to Sam and make sure that his people are included?

I wonder about the other International organisations that have links in the UK and also in Kenya? I wonder if there is a nearby branch of the Mothers Union, or Rotary international or something like that, where we could make sure that the UK supporters know what is happening? I think it seems sensible to try to work with existing organisations rather than trying to sort something out on our own.

If anyone has any suggestions, or any connections with these orgnaisations, please let me know.  Email me pamela.mclean@dadamac.net (it would help if you write "Rusinga Isalnd" in the title of your email)




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