My sister sent me a picture of a bill board she saw along Hwy 5 in Southern California.  It said "Congress Created Dust Bowl."  I guess that farmers there are unable to get water to water their crops...  Doesn't most of our produce come from California?

Read more about the Congress Created Dust Bowl.

This is a story that was printed in 2006 in the Spotlight on Orphans Newsletter.  It is included here so that you can learn some of the history of Hearth to Hearth Ministries.

On December 28, 2005, we received the following letter from Pastor Maurice: "Dear Vicki and other board members, please remove the names of the following children from the waiting list because they are all dead. They have died of starvation.

"1) Loyce Auma - No. 202 in the waiting list

2) Onesmus Okoth - No. 199 in the waiting list.

3) Wycliffe Otieno - No. 190 in the waiting list.

4) Austine Oduor - No. 203 in the waiting list.

[The next day we received word from Edith that two more had also died. Editor]

"Right now I am in Kisii waiting for Pastor Nyamora to help me conduct burial services.  He will bury one child and I will bury two tomorrow.  I hope you are still reading the newspapers. Already the death toll is twenty-seven in northeastern Kenya.

"The food distribution by the government is too political. Some areas are ignored and people are dying. It is so painful.  Some of our children have decided to forfeit their lunch meal and for the last two days we have been inviting about eightyseven children to come for lunch. It is terrible this time. Only God knows how many more will die from starvation.

"I do not know if at all there is anybody who can help save some. I just don't know.

"God bless you abundantly.

"Maurice"

What a horrible thing for Pastor to again be in a position of watching children die right before him, especially after visiting America and seeing the amounts of food just going to waste here. We studied the photos of the children, feeling in our hearts they could have been saved...

As an immediate measure, our treasurers scraped together $1,000 and wired it on Thursday morning, December 30. We did not want the children to have to wait for food until after the holiday weekend. The money was received and both Pastors Moses and Maurice immediately began feeding orphans at their locations. A letter from Julia revealed that they had fed 358 orphans and 74 adults the previous day, and the effort will continue daily as long as we have the funds.

Likewise, Pastor Moses is both praying with and feeding the little ones who are making their way to his gate.  A further problem at Glory Center is the dried-up water sources in the area.  Pastor Moses is leaving at 4:00 a.m. daily to find water for the children. We are looking into getting a holding tank for Glory Center and buying water by the lorry rather than having him queue for a supply each day.

It was immediately obvious to us that our sponsors and donors would want to help in saving these children, so we sent an email out to several dozen in an order to start sending relief as soon as possible, rather than waiting until this issue hit the mailboxes. Our letter read in part:

"Last year we were faced with skyrocketing food prices in the spring, the result of a failure of crops to survive Hearth to Hearth Ministries' drought. At that time we appealed to our sponsors with a request for funds to purchase a store of grain for two reasons:  One, to avoid the daily rising costs which were severely effecting our ability to operate and two, to assure that our children would not face starvation. Further, we asked for help in funding the feeding program instituted at the orphanage as our staff picked up by van and fed over nine hundred children two times a week, and additional orphans who came on Sabbath, saving them from sure death.

"Once more we are in the same situation. We do have a good farm, but we are now feeding over 230 people on a daily basis, and with the forms students not going away to board this January, the amounts of food needed are going to be far greater and prices are already skyrocketing. We would like to purchase at least one lorry of grain for both Hope Center (possibly two if we can raise enough money as their population is so high now), and Glory Center. With only forty-seven children at Glory, one load would last for several months.

They have not had time to develop a garden at their new location yet. It will be some time before it becomes productive. (Since we sent this email, donations have started to come in. By using what monies we are receiving, and borrowing some, we have been able to purchase these needed lorries of grain.  Next we will buy dried beans to store as well, anticipating further drought this summer.)

"I am sure you are aware from reading Spotlight on Orphans that we have been greatly blessed with several large contributions for the Hope Center lately, but these were given specifically for the building of the school, the development of both the farm and the vocational program of our new schools, and uniforms for the children. As has always been our policy, any money donated for a specific item is never diverted to another use. Additionally, the costs of these items were very carefully calculated so that we did not ask for more than needed for these projects.

It is important that you know this, so you realize we are still operating our orphanages on your sponsorship fees alone, not from these contributions, and why they cannot be used for the purchase of food. And while other similar organizations have considerably higher sponsorship fees, we have resisted raising our fees in order to be fair to the many new sponsors who have recently come on board, despite the rising cost of living and unfavorable exchange rate of US dollars to Kenyan shillings. If at all you are inclined to help with this effort, perhaps you could add a few extra dollars to your sponsorship contribution or send a general donation for famine relief.  Working together, we will be able to continue to save many more children from sure death."

The drought this year is said to be the worst since 1984, according to Joseph Mukabana, director of Kenya's Meteorological Department.  He expects over two-and-a-half million Kenyans to suffer from starvation.  Thousands of Kenyans are pastoralists, who depend on their cattle, goats and sheep for survival.  Some are trying to drive their animals into Uganda to graze, where the drought has not been as severe. Thousands of animals are dying daily, and Pastor reported even dogs dying from thirst in the streets.

Since there are so few wells, those that are available have either dried up, or have been compromised by the many people who are trying to access them.  As well, crops are withering in the fields. Additionally, the government is in turmoil, causing what food stores are available to be sitting in warehouses, not going to the people who are in need.  They seem to be counting on the NGO's to provide for the needs of the rural villages.

A report in the Daily Nation of January 8 tells of visits to villages where there were no smells or signs of cooking, no food and in some cases, no water for several days. Fresh graves held the bodies of young children and mothers. If you have access to the internet, please access www.allafrica.com and read some of the horrible accountings and predictions of what is to come.  If you don't have access but would like to read some of this material, please contact Vicki at the address on the masthead and I will make sure you get some of the articles.

The major worry we have is that we weren't addressing this issue until late spring of 2005, which means we may be faced with two droughts this coming year. According to the African Standard, there will be no relief until the spring rains in April, meaning a food shortage at least until summer. We are faced with a crisis of major proportions, not only with our resident orphans but with the children of the surrounding areas as well. Should the spring rainy season be sparse, the famine could continue through 2006. They are certainly going to need our help in order to survive.

We feel so conflicted by the many blessings that have been bestowed upon our orphans, knowing that, in the immediate area, there are people starving to death. As well, we find it hard to contemplate the abundance our families enjoy, knowing that there are so many who can't even have a single meal per day. As we consider our ample blessings, let us also work together to spread what God has given us to his less fortunate children.

With the World economy in trouble more and more people are suffering from Poverty and Hunger.  Working together we can make a difference in a poor persons life.  Hearth to Hearth Minsitries is working in Africa to help starving African orphans.  You can help these orphans by sponsoring an orphan.