Drought Appeal Response 2019
On 15 th April 2019, His Eminence John Cardinal Njue flagged off a consignment of over 70 tonnes to drought-stricken areas of Baringo County.
The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the drought appeal on 19 th March 2019, directed to all the Dioceses, Church institutions, Christians and people of good-will. The appeal was based on the assessment conducted by the Catholic Church, government and humanitarian agents.
The food security situation in the country has continued to deteriorate following the poor performance of the 2018 short rains, and the 2019 long rains, which have led to below average crop performance.
Following the appeal, the Archdiocese of Nairobi took responsibility and organized its faithful and individual people of good will to participate in this initiative
The donations were received from Parishes within the Archdiocese of Nairobi and well-wishers. The contributions were valued at a total of Ksh 7 Million.
Monetary donations amounting to a total of Ksh 1.15 million were also collected. This money will be taken to the people of Turkana in form of cash averting the challenge of transportation, bad infrastructure and the risk of food not reaching its destination due to these challenges.
These donations show a high level of generosity showed by our community members to our needy brothers and sisters in the affected areas.
While commissioning the food donations, His Eminence recognized that the need is growing every day and the delayed rainfall may culminate in a major humanitarian crisis in Kenya, hence the need for us to act fast and in a co-ordinated way to continue working together to avoid any possibility of losing lives due to hunger.
Therefore, the Catholic Church continues to make an appeal to all Christians and people of good-will to be generous and work in solidarity with the Church by donating funds, foods and non-food items to save lives of those affected.
