Thondwe, Malawi … “The warehouse is empty. The price of food has reached the highest levels ever in the history of the country,” reports Wilson Tembo from Malawi. “Despite having crops that appear to be good later this year, people in the meantime are starving. Little Agness Nyirongo, 5 years old is an example.”
Wilson Tembo directs food distribution for the Malawi Project. He came across Agness when completing the final portion of the recent shipment of food from the warehouse in southern Malawi. He continues to portray the desperate situation.
There are No Supplements
“Agness walked all the way from the far side of the district to get some food. At the moment we had enough left to supply 1,000 of the most seriously affected children and that brought to 28,800 the number who had received food from the two most recent shipments. The sad thing is the medical people have added her to a list of children facing acute food deficiency. She needs intensive food supplements to survive. The problem is she has not received the critically needed food supplements. There are no food supplements. And now we are out of food as well. She weighs just 11.5 kilograms (25.4 lbs). She was not alone. I came across dozens of children under 5 who are underweight. They have pale hair and swollen faces, stomach and feet. When we arrived they had been waiting for half a day just to receive a little food. It is a desperate situation.”
Tembo concludes his story. “No wonder we get calls from all corners of the country checking if we have some food. This is a very tough part of the work when you turn back little children who are desperate and hope you can feed them. But we do not have food. The warehouse is empty.”
While the rains have improved and there is a glimmer of hope a better crop is on the way, it is still 3 to 4 months away. That is too long. The warehouse is empty. Children like Agness will not survive until the harvest if food is not made available quickly. Won’t you write a check today? As little as $25.00 or $30.00 will give children like her a chance to survive. Please send a check today, or go to the web site for details about sending your contribution electronically. Help these children. https://www.malawiproject.org/donate/