9th August, 2011
This week, AMREF joined hands with Humedica and World Concern to deliver five tonnes of food supplements and medical supplies to Daadab in northern Kenya, which is host to half a million refugees, many of whom have moved here as a result of the ongoing drought. Humedica is an international emergency aid organistion based in Germany, while World Concern is an international relief agency working in Africa, Asia and the Americas. AMREF, Humedica and World Concern are all recipients of funding raised through Sternstunden’s Radio Day campaign for drought relief work in the Horn of Africa. AMREF, through our office in Germany, is the principal beneficiary of this funding, receiving more than Euro 1,000,000 for the drought relief efforts.
The team delivering the food, including AMREF’s Country Director in Kenya, Dr Lennie Bazira, Humedica CEO Mr Wolfgang Gross and World Concern’s Kenya Country Director, Mr Josephat Ngaira, were flown to Daadab on a Cessna Caravan aircraft provided by AMREF Flying Doctors. The District Officer in charge of the area, Mr ole Kiapi, thanked AMREF and its partners for the donation, which he said would help them to cope with the large influx of people into the town and refugee camps.
“We are receiving huge numbers of people every day, most of them fleeing the drought and insecurity in Somalia. Our capacities are stretched to the limit, but we do our best to receive all those who come seeking help. Most of those arriving are women and children, many of them malnourished and ill. We are therefore very grateful for your help,” ole Kiapi said.
The team visited the Ifo refugee camp, where they distributed some of the food, mainly milk formula and ready-made food for babies. The rest of the consignment, which also included medical infusion kits, naso-gastric tubes, and energy drinks for pregnant and lactating mothers, was donated to the Ifo Hospital run by GIZ. Everyone on the visiting team pitched in to offload the supplies into the hospital’s store.
The GIZ hospital is one of several medical facilities in Daadab, and serves a population of about 120,000 people. The hospital’s nutritionist, Mr Alexander Mbogo, said the donation would come in very handy to meet the rising need for therapeutic food treatment for vulnerable groups such as lactating mothers, patients with HIV and Tuberculosis, and malnourished children.
GIZ is one of many organisations operating in Daadab. Others include UNHCR, the World Food Programme, and NGOs like Save the Children, Red Cross and World Concern. Says Dr Bazira: “AMREF may need to focus more on people in the areas that are not getting as much as attention as Daadab like Turkana, Wajir, Samburu, Kajaido, Lamu, Makueni, Magadi, Kibera and other areas where we work. For now, our role in Daadab should be to complement the work of other organisations by focusing on medical outreaches.”
To roll out AMREF’s implementation plan in the drought-affected areas, AMREF project teams have already begun to intensify activities such as repairing of boreholes and provision of water purification tablets so that communities have access to safe water. Next week, AMREF will officially launch its drought implementation programme in Kenya with a medical camp at Kaikoko Health Centre in the hard-hit Turkana County in northern Kenya. The launch, which will be attended by the Director General, Dr Teguest Guerma, and the area District Commissioner, will include a medical camp, distribution of nutritional supplements and food, and provision of water treatment supplies to the communities. AMREF staff from Nairobi will provide health education to the local communities.
