Drought in East Africa certainly isn’t new, so what’s different about this year? Oxfam’s Jane Beesley tracks down an old friend in Kenya to find out.

We have been searching for Pamela Ataa. This is my sixth visit to Turkana (north Kenya) and we’ve met on every occasion.  We call at her home as we head north but she isn’t there…she’s in Lodwar with one of her children who is sick and has been admitted to hospital. 

A couple of days later we call again and she’s still in Lodwar…this time we hear her child has TB.  I hope we can find her in Lodwar but even more I hope her baby is OK.  Some one rushes over to and explains where we might find her and as soon as we hit town, several hours later, we head there. Sat outside are a couple of people I recognise but no Pamela. They’d seen her a hour ago…so we head to the place where she was staying where we’re told she’d checked out this morning and was going back to Kaeris, her village. 

There is nothing else we can do.  She’s gone and we have missed her.  The good news is that her baby has been discharged and is making a recovery. I’m sad not to see her though. 

It’s hot in the office when Gabriel appears in the doorway, “Pamela is here.” 

The thing about Pamela is you don’t have to interview her. From our very first meeting in 2006 she choose to start speaking to me, and on every visit since she has been a barometer of how things are. 

Sadly she soon confirms what we have been hearing throughout our visit.  When asked how the situation compares with last year she says, “It’s like last year but doubled.”

She talks of more and more people moving to Kaeris, the stress that has caused to the little pasture and water sources, and how all the good work they have done to build themselves up is now threatened.

Then she adds that “…people are becoming less bothered about their animals…”, how people can be seen walking across bare and barren land with few animals in a desperate search for water and grass watching their animals die or become too weak then suddenly leaving them. She emphasises that “this has not been the attitude before. Turkanan people really care about their animals but they have lost hope so when they see how few animals they have and that they are weak and there is no grass or water they have no hope…”

We have a long talk, Pamela talks about the food price increases which have continued all year, and a little more encouragingly that she has observed that some of the people involved in Oxfam’s business support programmes are amongst the few that are doing OK. She wonders if there will be more programmes like this. 

She asks if I have any questions. I reply that I never have to ask her questions to which she says:  “The drought can sometimes make your brain not work, the reasoning stops…it’s difficult to think.” Adding, “You know when you’re healthy and feeling well you can reason things out, you can solve problems but now in this situation you think and think and think until you can’t think any more…all I’m concentrating on is what I can provide for the little ones.”

Before we part she says, ”I feel very fortunate that there has been relief food…if not you would have seen people dying of hunger like the livestock and I’m very happy to send thanks to those who gave food and have supported us…”

Oxfam in action: East Africa Food Crisis

There are real and continuing needs for humanitarian assistance for a large proportion of the people in the areas that Oxfam works. By taking action in good time and ensuring that we are able to provide assistance that complements food aid, we can help people to regain hope and rebuild their and their children’s lives.   Continuing crises is not a reason to ignore suffering now and the detrimental effects that this may have for these same people next year.

With your help, Oxfam can assist people to regain hope, dignity and security through provision of cash, access to water, animal health services and education and support people to reclaim their livelihoods.

Tags: East Africa Food Crisis, Kenya

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 1:00 pm and is filed under General, Global food crisis, Humanitarian, News Blog, You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.