Yesterday I added a fundraiser to our fundraising page (https://aboutface.atlas.thrinacia.com/) so that we can help others in our village with food during this pandemic. I thought it would be a good idea to explain a bit further why it is so important that we step in and help with food.

As many of you know in April of 2019 we started a feeding program for the children in our village. We were in the middle of an unusual drought and we saw food prices rise almost overnight. Dried corn, which is a major staple food here in Kenya doubled in price, which is what we are also facing today. If a family can usually survive on $1 a day it will now cost them at least $2 and the reality is that many families just can't afford that. With rising food cost comes less meals and less ingredients to work with. Many families can survive off of ugali (ground corn flour made into a dough) only, but they have to be able to afford to purchase the corn. We have temporarily stopped the feeding program due to Covid19. If I could find a cheap and easy way for the children to take away their lunch we would likely still be doing it, but so far I haven't found what we need.

As you know many are out of work right now, and many are trying to hold on to what money they do have (meaning there isn't much building or hiring day laborers right now). We don't have anything like a stimulus check, SNAP, WIC or real government help coming to aid our village. But God put us here and we feel like we need to help as much as we are able. A small amount of food for the next 8 weeks seems like a way to ease the burden without causing dependency.

Kenya has the 8th largest population in the world living below the poverty line, which is an income of less than $3 per day. Bungoma county (our county) has the 3rd largest population in Kenya living below the poverty line. Something like a drought or Covid19 could cause many deaths here just due to lack of food. We also have many in our area living with HIV and we have seen first hand what a difference having food on a regular basis makes for those with HIV.

Our plan right now is to serve the 70 families that are members of our 2 churches (Kaya and Tulumba) and at least 225 children from our village. We hope that providing food and a weekly printed sermon will be a bit of relief in this time. The cost breaks down to about $3 per week or $25 for the next 8 weeks. If you are able to donate (any amount, it doesn't have to be $25), pray and or share this with others we would be so blessed. You can also find out more details in the actual fundraiser that I linked above. As always thank you for your support and if you have any questions or want further details just ask and we will answer.

Food Relief Needed During Covid19

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