Update Against Hunger - November 9, 2005
Field Notes:
Determination and Cooperation in Pakistan
Dear Action Against Hunger Team Member,
Now that I'm back from helping organize our Mission in Pakistan, my most vivid memory is the impressive unity of all Pakistanis in their effort to recover from October 8's earthquake. Pakistan is often a fractious society, but you'd never know it from the widespread cooperation I encountered. Everybody's concern for everyone else's welfare and dignity was heartwarming. I saw a bonanza of local volunteers eager to help bring relief to devastated communities. Less affluent Pakistanis rushed to give food, blankets, and money just as generously in their way as their more prosperous neighbors did.
I want to celebrate the singular dedication and integrity I saw in the cities and villages. Pakistan's collaborative determination against daunting odds deserves the highest honors.
Roger Persichino, Desk Officer,
Action Against Hunger (ACF) USA
New from US Headquarter:
ACF Volunteers Hold Fundraisers for Pakistan
Maha Khan, an analyst with the Research and Innovative Technology Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. is one of our most active volunteers. Recently, she offered to organize a local fundraiser to support our work in Pakistan. We applauded her offer, so she set to work arranging an event that took place last night on the one-month anniversary of the Himalayan earthquake that killed 74,000, injured more than 70,000 and left more than 3 million Pakistanis homeless. Maha invited Washingtonians to make a donation and bend elbows at a bar known as Local 16, then to have dinner at either Heritage India or Mimi's American Bistro. We'll receive proceeds from the admission price and drinks at Local 16, while money from the restaurants will go to the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America, all to support earthquake relief in Pakistan.
We're grateful to Maha, but she isn't alone. Since the earthquake, 22 volunteers from around the country college students, Pakistani émigrés, and others have approached us and asked permission to organize fundraising events on our behalf. Needless to say, we welcome all such support (though we emphasize that we need fundraisers, not blanket-and-old-clothes-raisers or canned-goods-raisers, because the cost of transporting such material to Asia far exceeds the cost of purchasing the same goods locally in Pakistan, where our purchases help revive the local economy).
Our continued financial efficiency-we spend more than 90 cents of every donated dollar directly on relief-rests on the shoulders of volunteers whose contributions of time and expertise lets our staff concentrate on humanitarian aid rather than on simply holding our organization together.
Get Involved: Hold an Educational Fundraiser for ACF
If you're interested in spearheading financial support for us near your home, check out our fundraisers/pakistanvolunteer fundraising resources online and contact Erica Sackin at esackin@actionagainsthunger.org to coordinate your effort with our headquarters.
News from the field:
Early Warnings and a Responsive Government in Kenya
The Mandera district of Kenya, bordering Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the east, is dry and arid during the best of times, but it has suffered more than usual from successive droughts over the past six years. The lack of water decimated herds of livestock and has prevented herders from re-establishing their way of life. Also, loss of cattle inevitably reduced the availability of milk, which in turn has caused high malnutrition levels in children younger than five because milk is an important weaning food in Mandera.
Three communities within Mandera have been particularly affected: Hullow, Malkamari, and Malkaruqa. There the droughts have reduced many villagers to near destitution and dependency on food aid. Astonishingly, approximately 80% of them suffer from a nutritional deficit, and many are at the edge of starvation. Worse, because there's little water for washing, many can't maintain decent hygiene, leading to poor health for everyone, often with no access to health care. During a recent assessment, many children and adults presented cases of acute pneumonia and malaria.
No sooner did our surveys confirm this predicament than mobilization began. Mandera has an established planning body, the District Steering Group (DSG), comprising non-governmental and Government of Kenya institutions, which has grown in importance over the past few years. The DSG is an excellent forum through which the planning activities of the district are debated and approved, and its swift cooperation has enabled us to find support and coordination with other aid organizations. For example, Arid Land, a government organization, has begun trucking water to parched communities, and the World Food Program plans to start food distribution immediately. Meanwhile, we're extending home treatment to communities whose inhabitants can't reach our feeding centers.
We're grateful for everyone's prompt support, which is helping us fulfill our commitment. We're most successful whenever authorities in Kenya and elsewhere are similarly responsive.
Person Profile:
Profile MAMIE SACKEY
Mamie Sackey is leaving our South Sudan mission to pursue a Ph.D. in Public Health at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore. Her teammates wish her success. But they're sorry to see her go.
On her way to Baltimore, Mamie has seen the world. She was born in Ghana and recalls always wanting to work in humanitarian aid. After majoring in biochemistry as an undergraduate, she earned her M.Sc. in the U.S. at Virginia Polytechnic University's program in International and Community Nutrition. Though she hoped to return to Africa or maybe Afghanistan she began her humanitarian career in Ecuador, where she studied the impact of intestinal parasites on nutrition and mental development in children.
Next, Mamie went to work for the World Food Program in Rome and traveled to six countries consulting on a global survey of school feeding and education. But she preferred focusing on a single community and applied to Action Against Hunger. She remembers saying during her interview that there was no country that she didn't want to go to, though Afghanistan and Sudan were at the top of her list. So we sent her to the Central Upper Nile region of South Sudan three years ago as Supplementary Feeding Program Manager. Then we promoted her to Health Education Program Manager and recently to Livelihoods Manager.
Her first impression of Sudan, she says, was "how beautiful!"even though she arrived during the rainy season when mud, snakes, and insects abound. At the time, the Mission was new, and everyone lived in tents while the program and field locations were being set up. Mamie says she still loves the rainy season because it reminds her of her arrival.
Mamie's colleagues report that her tolerance for flies and dirt is astonishing considering her impeccable standards of cleanliness, and they're dazzled by her ability to maintain great hair styles in the field for months on end. But most of all, her Mission's officers voiced praise for Mamie's unwavering dedication to her work, to relief and development, and to the people of South Sudan.
