Staring into the innocent and tear filled eyes of her 2 month old baby, to weak and tired to utter the beautiful cry of a newborn child, a mother weeps as the emaciated frame in her arms takes his last breathe. Never to take his first step or utter his first words. Wracked with sobs, guilt and pain this mother has now lost her last child and in time her body too will give up  – to a starvation caused by drought and a lack of food in a country where food is not a necessity but a luxury nobody can afford.

On a freezing cold Monday afternoon in Johannesburg, South Africa, I casually go to the refrigerator and decide what might fill the gap since my last meal at 8a.m. this morning. After all hunger pains have set in and as it goes it is lunchtime and I need to eat.

It suddenly dawns on me how fortunate and blessed I am …. and I realise that saying this and doing nothing to help that mother in a world so far from my own is injustice and selfishness at it’s finest.

The Human body can survive for up to 4 weeks without food. Fact! However when you think of  one day without even a snack to fill the gap, the hunger pains feel as though they are ripping through your entire body.

So it is not just the loss of up to 1000 children daily claimed by starvation in Somalia but the thought and horror of what those tiny bodies must go through before death takes them. The physical agony of malnourishment must be unbearable, the mental trauma for their parents and caregivers, a tragedy in itself.

Realising and reading the facts, I type in “Help Somalia” into Google and the results returned are staggering. Countless Organisations and Individuals have put their thoughts and ideas into action and are doing their utmost to help people who need it most.

So  I donate my portion as much as I am able too and pass this on to those of you who read my post as a way of saying ” Help out”, “Pay your luxuries forward into someone else’s necessities” … if you are reading this empathise with that mother and then click on one of the links below and help feed even one child and allow them what they are owed. The chance to grow up and be somebody instead of one of a thousand bodies.

 World Food Proramme

Help Save Lives in Drought-Stricken East Africa click here  https://wfp.org/donate/hornofafrica?gclid=CJeO76yU0aoCFcEKtAodM1h41A

How you can help Somalia click here http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/270492/193/How-you-can-help-Somalia

Click on any blue Link Below to help out ……

• CARE
  The organization says it is providing food, water and primary education in the Dadaab refugee camps. Call 1-800-521-2273 or donate online.
• Mercy Corps
  The global humanitarian agency is responding to the drought in the Horn of Africa with emergency operations in northeastern Kenya, and plans to build on existing work in hard-hit Ethiopia and Somalia. We will focus our efforts on the most vulnerable people in villages and towns.Mercy Corps is currently helping 150,000 people through programs like emergency food distributions, clean water delivery and cash-for-work activities in this area.Want to help? Click here to donate.
• UNICEF
  UNICEF, the UN’s children’s organization, and its partners need more money to aid children in the Horn of Africa in the coming months. Immediate measures include child immunization campaigns and water and sanitation services to ward off disease.Text FOOD to UNICEF (864233) to donate $10, enough to feed a child for 10 days or provide 321 sachets of nutrient powder to boost infant survival and development, the aid group says.
• International Committee of the Red Cross
  Red Cross has launched the East Africa Drought Appeal 2011 to provide emergency relief, including food, water and health assistance.Make donations online at www.redcross.org.au or by calling 1-800-HELPNOW.
• Edesia Global Nutrition Solutions
  Executive Director Navyn Salem says, “You can very simply save a child’s life or change the course of a family’s life. It makes everything seem worthwhile and absolutely possible.” The organization has a special focus on the crisis in Somalia and is using Plumpy’nut® to “make a lasting impact and save lives.” Make donations online.
• Doctors Without Borders
  In Dadaab, Kenya, Doctors Without Borders says it is treating more than 2,400 children in its ambulatory therapeutic feeding program and 130 children in its inpatient therapeutic feeding center. An additional 5,047 children with moderate acute malnutrition are enrolled in a supplementary feeding program. There are now around 10,000 people in the organization’s feeding program in the Dadaab camp.Donate here or by calling 1-888-392-0392.
• Save the Children 
  Save the Children has launched an effort in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia to feed underweight children, provide medical treatment and get clean water to remote communities. Click here for ways to give.
• The World Food Programme
  The World Food Programme said it is reaching 1.5 million people in Somalia now, and is scaling up to reach 2.2 million more in the previously inaccessible south of the country. It says airlifts to Mogadishu will start within a few days to bring in special nutritious foods for malnourished children.Donate $10 by texting the word AID to 27722 or make a donation online
• World Vision
  World Vision says it has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for years and will continue to provide food, clean water, agricultural support, health care and other vital assistance to children and families. Donate online.
• The International Rescue Committee
  In drought-wracked central Somalia, the International Rescue Committee is giving cash and other assistance to households whose livestock, pastures and farmland have been destroyed. In Kenya’s refugee camps, the organization says, it is providing medical screenings and referrals for new arrivals at reception centers where they also receive food and basic supplies. Donate online.
• Oxfam International
  Oxfam said it is responding to the crisis by providing water, sanitation services, food and cash. The aim is to reach at least 3 million people, including 700,000 in Ethiopia, 1.3 million in Kenya, and 500,000 in Somalia. Donate online.
• International Medical Corps
  International Medical Corps teams have been delivering health care services to people in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya since 1991 and are working rapidly to provide humanitarian relief to victims of drought and famine in the region. Donate online.
• AmeriCares
  AmeriCares said it is preparing to send medical aid to areas of East Africa experiencing one of the worst droughts in decades. The organization has also established an Africa Disaster Relief Fund to help direct critical resources to the region. Donate online.
• Action Against Hunger
  The organization said it’s providing support for displaced and at-risk populations, treating acute malnutrition, and ensuring emergency access to clean water, improved sanitation, and hygiene programs for thousands of children and adults. Donate online or call 877-777-1420.
• ActionAid
  ActionAid said it has already reached more than 200,000 people with emergency food supplies, water and livelihood support. In the next few months, the organization aims to reach an additional 120,000 people with much-need food and water. Donate online.
• Adventist Development and Relief Agency
  According to the organization, the aid it’s providing includes emergency water trucking, distribution of shelter materials, repair and construction of boreholes, distribution of food rations, and in Kenya special rations to 300 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Donate online.
• American Friends Service Committee 
  The organization says it is working in the Dadaab refugee camp on the Somalia-Kenya border and with local partners inside Somalia to support lasting peace efforts. Donate online. 
• American Jewish World Service
  The organization says it will be partnering with other organizations to ensure that aid is distributed to those who are most in need. Over the long term, AJWS will be working with its partners to address the underlying systemic causes of this crisis. Donate online.
• American Refugee Committee
  The organization says it’s working closely to provide life-saving relief to those in need, providing food aid and non-food items such as bedding, utensils and soap to more than 400 families. Donate online.
• Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT)
  AMURT says it is performing assessments in Northern Kenya to better serve the affected communities. Call 301-738-7122 for donations.
• Baptist World Alliance
  The organization says it’s working with its members in Ethiopia and Kenya to formulate an adequate drought response. Donate online.
• Catholic Relief Services
  CRS says it is increasing its food distributionsfrom 400,000 people to 1 million people in Ethiopia. The organization also says it has an assessment team in the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya and is preparing 9,500 kits with plastic sheeting & jerry cans for immediate distribution. Call 1-800-736-3467 or donateonline.
• CHF International
  CHF says it is responding to the crisis in the Horn of Africa through its country offices in Ethiopia and Kenya by providing continued emergency water support and other forms of aid. Donate online.
• ChildFund International
  ChildFund says it is targeting its drought-relief efforts on children five and younger and their mothers, who are most at risk for nutritional deficiencies. The organization has partnerships with the World Food Programme and UNICEF. Donate online.
• Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
  The organization says it is providing $7 million in emergency food supplies, water and fodder for livestock in five high-risk locations in Kenya and in southern Ethiopia. Donate online.
• Church World Service
  CWS says it is working on a response centered on the Mwingi and Kibwezi areas of Kenya by providing emergency food relief, water tankering and long-term disaster risk reduction programs. Donate online.
• CONCERN Worldwide
  Concern says it is reaching 400,000 in the affected regions with clean water, food and nutritional care. In Somalia, the organization says it’s reaching more than 100,000 people. Donate online.
• Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED)
  From Uganda to Southern Somalia, through Kenya, ACTED says its teams are operating every day to ensure access to potable water and sanitation in order to improve the vulnerable populations’ food security. Donate online.
• HelpAge USA
  HelpAge says it’s distributing food, water and healthcare to older people and their families, as well as water, animal feed and veterinary care for livestock. Donate online.
• Helping Hand for Relief and Development
  The organization says it has planned sending emergency aid, which includes providing basic sanitation and providing camps for internally displaced persons. Donate online.
• International Orthodox Christian Charities
  Through its emergency healthcare partners, IOCC says it’s putting nursing and public healthcare specialists into action to aid victims of the massive humanitarian crisis. The organization is also delivering financial assistance to provide critically needed healthcare support for millions of people. Donate online.
• International Relief & Development
  IRD says its staff is working to design an emergency response focused on supplemental feedings. Donateonline.
• Islamic Relief USA
  The organization says it has launched a humanitarian assistance program to aid the civilian population affected by famine. Donate online.
• Life for Relief and Development
  The organization says it is responding by providing funds to buy emergency food and it has also commissioned the digging of water wells. Donate online.
• Lutheran World Relief
  LWR says it has committed an initial $500,000 to its partners operating in the Dadaab camps to assist new arrivals. Donate online.
• Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin)
  Merlin says it is providing nutrition and health services to those affected. Donate online.
• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
  UNHCR is already scaling up work on the ground, providing medical care and food. Donate online.
  
  $7: provides ready-to-use therapeutic food for a malnourished refugee child
  $50: therapeutic feeding kits – each one helps feed five children$100: survival kits – each has a blanket, mattress, kitchen set, stove and soap$450: all-weather tent to shelter a refugee family

  $5,500: nutrition survey kit, includes weighing scales (x5), height measuring board, hammock machine and accessories (micro-cuvettes, lancet, etc.), and mid upper arm circumference tape.

• Global Enrichment Foundation
  The Global Enrichment Foundation, Hope for the Nations, and The African Future say they delivered the first convoy of emergency food aid on Aug. 4, 2011 in Dhoobley, Somalia, feeding 14,000. The food baskets distributed fed a family of five for two weeks. A second convoy is being organized for late August. Donateonline.
• Samaritan’s Purse
  The organization says it sent a team that includes relief and nutrition specialists to northeast Kenya to lead the emergency response. SP has also set up a base of operations in Garissa, Kenya, along the Kenya/Somalia border, and have begun distributing tons of maize, beans, and cooking oil. Donate online.
• Medical Teams International
  The organization says it will be deploying medical volunteers, medicines and medical supplies to the Horn of Africa. Donate online.
• Mercy Corps
  The organization says its teams in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are responding to the crisis by distributing food and water and expanding relief efforts. Mercy Corps says it is on the ground helping more than one million people in the region survive. Donate online.
• Mercy-USA For Aid and Development
  The organization says it has been working in the Horn of Africa since 1993. Its projects focus on nutrition, primary healthcare and promotion, controlling infectious diseases and improving access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. Donate online.
• Operation USA
  The organization says it is currently focusing on providing safe water to the camp in Dadaab, Kenya. Donate online.
• Plan International USA
  The organization’s response to the crisis includes trucking in water, medicine, and delivering therapeutic feeding programmes, supplementary feeding at schools, shelter and hygiene promotion. Donate online.
• Relief International
  The organization says it is rehabilitating primary health care facilities, training health care professionals, providing essential nutrition services, distributing food to families and providing nutrition services for the malnourished. Donate online.
• WellShare International
  WellShare International says it operates maternal and newborn care programs in East Africa. Donateonline.
• World Concern
  World Concern says it has worked in Eastern Kenya and Somalia for many years. It is responding to this crisis with life saving aid – water, food, emergency supplies and more. Donate online.