The first batch of food aid to help children and families facing starvation in East Africa has been loaded onto a plane bound for Somalia.
Mary’s Meals has teamed up with the African relief agency Gift of the Givers to provide around 900,000 meals for those affected by the famine in Somalia.
The emergency response will see 100 tonnes of food aid delivered to Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, where tens of thousands of people have fled to in search of food.
Mary’s Meals is appealing for public donations to buy more food to send to East Africa as soon as possible. It is costing the charity just 4 pence to provide one meal.
Staff from Mary’s Meals and Gift of the Givers have now loaded the first batch of food aid bound for Somalia onto a plane in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Mary's Meals food aid loaded on plane bound for Somalia
Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, chief executive of Mary’s Meals, will arrive in Somalia this week to help distribute the aid.
“Like everyone else, we have been horrified by the images of suffering children and the scale of the need in Somalia, but initially we did not see an opportunity to work effectively there and until now have concentrated our response to northern Kenya where we have worked for many years,” said Magnus.
“However, when our trusted partners established themselves in Mogadishu and began effectively distributed food to those suffering most there, it made it possible for us to help, simply by sourcing food in Malawi, where we have a large operation, for direct transport into Mogadishu.
“We are delighted that we can now use donations to save lives in a place where so many are suffering.”
Gift of the Givers are trusted partners of Mary’s Meals and have a long-standing relationship with them in Malawi, where Mary’s Meals currently provides over 479,000 daily meals to hungry children in a place of education. Gift of the Givers has a philosophy of encouraging African aid for Africa.
The food being bought by Mary’s Meals is nutritious maize-based porridge Likuni Phala – the same food Mary’s Meals provides to children at its projects in Malawi. This is being sourced locally, thereby supporting the Malawian economy.
The rest of the food aid provided by Mary’s Meals will be loaded onto containers in Malawi and transported to the coast before being shipped to Somalia. The aid delivery to Somalia is the latest effort being made by Mary’s Meals to support people affected by the crisis in East Africa, where it is already feeding over 24,000 children with a daily life-saving meal in northern Kenya.
