Through partner organizations on the ground, the church’s aid department has been helping to provide food, shelter and other necessities to communities crippled by famine in the Horn of Africa. As of Sept. 16, Presbyterians from across the country had contributed $404,000 to support ongoing relief efforts.
Presbyterian World Service and Development is focusing on villages in the Goro district of Ethiopia, where there has not been enough rainfall to generate adequate harvests, and the Dadaab refugee camp complex in Kenya, where people fleeing famine in southern Somalia have been arriving by the hundreds.
The multi – year drought is being called the worst in more than half a century. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there are 13.3 million people in the Horn of Africa in need of humanitarian aid.
Individual donations made by Sept. 16 were matched by the Canadian government, which administers its funding through the Canadian International Development Agency.
For updates on the work of PWS&D, or to contribute online, visit presbyterian.ca/pwsd.
