Britain is sizzling in a heat-wave. Colleagues and commuters are complaining about the lack of air conditioning.
But while Britons might bemoan the sticky summer, communities living in poverty across the world are facing extreme weather conditions that are putting them on the edge of survival.
Lawrence Kamaya Hasewa, 64 (pictured), points sorrowfully at one of his sheep, too weak now to even drink water. He does not feel hopeful that it will survive.
In the far north of Kenya where Lawrence lives the rains failed to materialise. Again. It’s the third rains in a row that have failed, leaving the land parched without water.
Animals dying
Lawrence owned twenty goats and sheep. In the past four days five of his goats have died. He tells me:
“The drought is too severe; there is just no grass at all. Our animals are too weak and too thin to milk. My seven children are suffering. The whole family needs food, but there’s not enough.”
Lawrence’s neighbour, Arbanai Sugutan James, is a tough, hardy 70 year old. He explains:
“We have lost so many animals in the past two weeks. This place was covered with carcasses. We had to burn them quickly because of the cholera. We are all scared the cholera will come here soon.”
Surviving in the drylands
The skinny goats that are left are now in too poor a condition to sell and their prices at market have nosedived accordingly. Meanwhile, the price of basic food has skyrocketed, due to a combination of drought and the world economic downturn.
The lifestyle of the herders is amazingly adapted to these dryland conditions, for thousands of years they’ve been eking out a living where no other community could. But now a combination of increasing droughts, soaring population, and neglect from the national government are making their way of life next to impossible.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that because of climate changes, up to 8% more land in Africa will become dry like this in the next 70 years.
Praying for rain
As we prepare to depart, Lawrence tries to force some grass into the dying animal’s mouth. He says: “It’s a female sheep, we want to try all we can to keep her alive so we can have some milk for our children.”
On our way back we meet Joyce, 28 years old, mother of three children. Three animal skins have been carefully stretched on the ground for drying. Joyce tells us that she had twenty-one goats. In the last two weeks she has lost eleven animals – half her stock. The three skins we saw had died that very day.
The next hope for local herders is to wait and pray that it will rain in October. Three long, dry months stretch ahead.
We in CAFOD are working with our local partners the Diocese of Isiolo, Maralal and Marsabit helping provide vital medicines to prevent cholera, diarrhoea, and other sickness caused by drought, building water-points, and providing extra food for young children that have been malnourished.
In the long-term, we are trying to work with communities like these to help them be less vulnerable and more prepared to deal with increasingly severe and frequent droughts.
Posted by AlessandraM
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