Relief to Turkana, Kenya
CRWRC Newsroom | June 12, 2009
Christin’s parents are of the Turkana tribe. They migrated from Turkana to Eldoret to find casual labour before Christin was born. Then on January 17, 2008, during the post election violence in Kenya, Christin’s uncle paid for bus fare for her to leave Eldoret. Though her husband was of the local tribe, Christin was not - and had to flee for her safety and that of her six children.
In the morning Christin and her children eat porridge for breakfast. The family does not normally have a noon meal; at night they eat their main meal of corn flour with some split peas. To have the corn ground into flour they exchange 4.4 pounds of the 110 pound bag. When food runs out, Christin cuts and sells wood to keep her children fed.
CRWRC is now distributing rations of corn, split peas, and oil to the local communities of Turkana, as well as Internally Displaced People like Christin. “We found that locals were in need as much as those who’d fled to Turkana for safety,” says Jacqueline Koster, international disaster response program coordinator. “More than 18,000 vulnerable people are now receiving food.” Before CRWRC, people were eating less than 1.5 meals per day. Now with CRWRC’s help, the average person eats at least two meals a day.
In addition to the corn split peas, and vegetable oil many people are also including potatoes, yams, and other root vegetables; salt; sugar or honey; and dairy products in their daily diets. The food is often purchased with money earned from odd jobs and small businesses.
- based on a blog by CRWRC international relief managers Dwayne and Darlene Nienhuis. For more of their stories, visit http://www.ddnienhuis.