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Islamic Relief Staff Member Visits Malawi and Kenya

In April 2006, Shamiq Hussain, Islamic Relief staff member from Buena Park, CA, traveled along with a worldwide delegation of Islamic Relief partner offices to assess the situation of the food crisis in Malawi, and the Mandera region of Kenya.

Click here to read Shamiq's first-hand account of his visit.

Facts on Kenya
-Population: 31 million
-Major Religions: Christianity (66%); Islam (25%)
-Average annual income: US $340
-Life expectancy: 50 years
-Child Mortality: 1 child in every 8 dies before its fifth birthday

Kenya is a nation struggling with chronic rural poverty. Over 16 million Kenyans survive on less than $1 a day, with rural areas accounting for about 90% of Kenya's poor. Severe droughts and flooding in recent years have resulted in serious food shortages. Thousands of people have lost their homes and livelihoods, and have been displaced. Without proper sanitation and water supplies, these people are vulnerable to diseases such as malaria and cholera. Over 2 million people in Kenya are HIV positive, while 1.5 million have already died from AIDS.

Drought and Refugees
Mandera is a desert region in the north-east of Kenya. Most of the population is nomadic pastoralists who depend on their livestock for survival. Decades of drought have affected both livestock and crops. Malnutrition rates are high, and outbreaks of malaria, diarrhea and measles are especially dangerous for children.

In 2002, around 15,000 Somalis fled civil conflict in south-west Somalia, across the border into Mandera. Refugee children can be seen on the streets begging, scavenging for food and desperately seeking work to support their families.

Islamic Relief in Kenya
Islamic Relief has been working with orphans in this poverty-stricken region since 1993. Previously, many of the sponsored children had been unable to afford a decent meal in an entire week. For these children sponsorship has been the difference between life and death. Islamic Relief has sponsored 102 orphans so far.

Another IR Kenyan project is the reservoir in Olla, near Mandera, which has the capacity to hold 15,000 cubic meters of water. This is enough water to sustain the needs of the Olla population for nine months between rains.