Emergency Appeal

Emergency Appeal: East African Famine

AMATULLAH | AUGUST 13, 2011 12:26 AM

While watching the news with my mom the other day, a segment came on about the famine in East Africa. As we listened to the anchor share the stories of families coming to the refugee camps for aid, he highlighted one specific story of a father who walked for 30 days and 30 nights to save his three young sons. At one point in his journey, the children were too weak to walk so their father would carry them one by one – dropping one off at one point then going back for the other across the barren desert.

Then they shared another story of a mother. She was sitting quietly by the bedside of her child who just passed away. Her two other children passed away a few days before this baby. She sat there for hours, quietly, because she could not afford to bury her own child.

In the past 3 months, it is reported that nearly 30,000 children have died.

30,000.

Isn't it too much to eat?

While Muslims in Malaysia would have been eating two courses of meal for breaking of fasting today, Somalians are probably have nothing to eat. I read a story in Huffington before about a Somalian mother losing her breast milk to feed her child while on her way to food distribution centre. Can you imagine the devastating effect it has on the baby. How unbearable the situation for a mother to watch it happen to her child is beyond imagination. I admit that I bought extra food everyday. Well, I finished all of them but I think I would have been okay if I did not have another nasi goreng, soto ayam or mee jawa after my nasi with ayam for breaking of fasting. Come to think of it, the Somalians are not even close to a drop of water and I drink like a gallon of it every night. 

So how is it that the world has not noticed? And why is it so difficult for us to give?

The politicians argue about it here and there. They keep bullshitting us about the 'plans' while people are dying. If you can bail out a rich country for trillion dollars, why can't you at least set a portion of million dollars to give food right now? Yes, don't show your moronic I-know-the-economics-of-this-situation-but-you-don't-so-shut-up attitude. Oh please, if your large percentage of your Gross National Income (GNI) can go to military activities that killed millions of people in Iraq, Afghanistans and any other countries, why not show your mercy in times of hardship like this. Argh, who cares? The stock is plunging and it is far more important than saving those kids who have nothing for you, isn't it?