Famine in Malawi
Malawi, Africa … Tadala is a young boy in a remote area of Malawi. Like many children he is being raised in a village. Life is very similar for all village children. Young Tadala gets up before daylight and almost immediately does his household chores. Before most children are out of bed in other parts of the world Tadala is on his way to school.
Here is where the story changes from that of children in other places. Tadala is an orphan and lacks essential supplies for life. With the food shortage sweeping the land young Tadala is especially vulnerable to hunger. He is one of the children who caught the eye of Wilson Tembo during a recent distribution of food to Mapanda Village. Tembo reports, “As soon as he received his share of food, he became so excited! The food brought some energy to him even before he ate any of it. He has hope.”
For Tadala and others like him the situation grows more desperate every day. The shortage of food grows worse, prices are too high for village people to purchase food, and friends and neighbors have no food to share.
Disastrous Forecast
The forecast for the 2015/2016 season conducted by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) indicates 2,833,217 people (17% of the entire population of Malawi) won’t reach their food requirements. That would be equal to 55 million people in the U.S. or the combined population of the following cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonia, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Austin, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Columbus, Ft Worth, Charlotte, Detroit, El Paso, Seattle, Denver, Washington DC, Memphis, Boston, Nashville, Baltimore, Oklahoma City, and this is only 2/3 of the number that would be caught up in this catastrophe.
If this depth of disaster were to strike the United States it would be catastrophic beyond measure. Nations of the world would rally in support. From all over the remaining portion of the U.S. and all across Canada food will pour into these cities. Churches would campaign on the streets for contributions. Schools, civic groups, and community outreach organizations would call for immediate action. The rest of the nation, and the world could not fathom allowing such a disaster to go unchallenged.