Salvation Army Continues Drought Response in Uganda
The Salvation Army in Uganda continues its response to drought conditions that have taken hold across much of the Horn of Africa. Children are particularly vulnerable, with malnourishment among under-fives having increased dramatically.
In one district the government is using two health centres solely for the purpose of dealing with malnourished children. The Red Cross and UNICEF are providing food, but children and their families are sleeping on the ground. And, there is no water and hygiene is a major problem.
When Salvation Army assessment teams became aware of the situation they stepped in to provide 200 mattresses, 200 jerrycans , 200 wash basins, 500 long bars of soap and 100 jerrycans of liquid soap. Plans are under way to sink a borehole so there is a constant supply of clean water. The Salvation Army’s support is making a small but significant difference to the children and their families.
The staff in these compact health centres work day and night to look after more than 250 children. The night before The Salvation Army delivered the mattresses one child had died. Another nine were buried only a few days earlier. But the problem seen in the health centres is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a large number of malnourished children in the surrounding villages. The local government has started a campaign to encourage villagers to bring their children to the health centres before it is too late.
In one of the villages a Salvation Army project officer met a young woman, Nalongo. She told him that her breast milk had run dry, probably because she had not eaten sufficiently. Once a day she tries to feed the babies porridge made of cassava flour, which is not very nutritious – but it’s all she can afford.
Mothers like Nalongo are in a very difficult situation. The project officer encouraged her to go to the local health centre with her children. In the meantime she was one of the more than 700 families who benefited from food provided by The Salvation Army. Each family received 15 kg of maize and 10 kg of beans.
More projects are planned and an international Salvation Army team is on its way to assist the Uganda Command.
The drought in east Africa is set to last for some time. Donations to The Salvation Army’s Africa Disaster Fund will allow teams in Uganda and other east African countries to provide vital assistance.
