Easter in the Village

Friends,

We return from our visit to the Children’s Village with incredible stories of the resilience and triumph of the girls you have supported.  Know that, because of you, more girls have been brought in from the streets and away from a life of forced labor, childhood marriage and the constant threat of physical violence.  And they are thriving! 

It was my plan to offer Easter greetings and share some of these stories with you.  As we enter into Holy Week, however, the Easter celebration in the Children’s Village in Meru will be tempered with worry about the devastating drought and food shortages they are facing.

As you may know, the lack of rainfall in late 2016 has resulted in a drought in Kenya, and throughout many countries in East Africa. In February of this year, the Kenyan government declared the drought to be a national disaster, severely affecting the country and food supplies. Water bodies have dried up and food insecurity has increased, affecting 1.1 million children.

Last month we witnessed the dry dusty river basins, the burnt and ruined maize crops and young children carrying large water vessels for miles back to their villages.

This has become yet a new challenge for Fr. Riwa and his team.  At St. Clare, they rely heavily on the maize crops for the porridge that they feed to the girls twice a day  - as their breakfast and their tea.   The crop was devastated this year.   Loss of livestock due to the drought and an increase in violence as herders fight over grazing land and water rights further complicates and worsens food security.

When we left them a few weeks back, they were praying for heavy rains in April for some measure of relief and a hope for at least a short planting season before the Kenyan winter.  Sadly, the country remains dry, which will result in the need for purchasing food at high rates and cutting back everywhere they can.

Please keep the girls and those who work so hard to sustain them in your prayers.

We hope to send a special collection to Fr. Riwa to help him buy food supplies for the children during this crisis.  If you can contribute in any way to provide food security to the children, we would be most thankful.  Donations can be made securely through our donation page or mailed to our office.

Wishing you a Happy Easter and a bountiful spring,

Jewel Lewis

Executive Director