News

Walking with the Internally Displaced

Tuesday February 6 2017

Christian Aid introduce their Lent campaign

‘Is not this the fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?’ Isaiah 58:6-7

This Lent, Christian Aid is asking you to walk with the more than 40 million internally displaced people in the world today. Millions of people have been forced from their homes for many reasons, including conflict, natural disasters, drought and fear. Often remaining within their own countries, they’re largely ignored by the international community and are forced to create a life for themselves and their families in unfamiliar surroundings, with little support.

People like Sori.

Sori Galgallo lives in Marsabit county, northern Kenya, where approximately 150,000 people are living with the crippling effects of a two-year-long drought. Pastoralist communities, like Sori’s, which rely on rains to provide reliable grazing pastures for their cattle are being forced to travel much further than before in a bid to keep their animals alive.

Sori and her six children used to have plenty of meat and milk, a staple for pastoralist communities, but as a result of the drought, they are now relying on aid and the generosity of others. The family earned a good living from their 200-strong herd, but the chronic lack of rain has meant only 30 are still alive.

Thankfully, the family have received cash support and much-needed livestock feed from Christian Aid’s local partner PACIDA. With the money, Sori is able to buy food, like rice, beans and milk, for her family, and to ensure her children can stay in school.

Sally Foster-Fulton, head of Christian Aid Scotland, said: “For Christians around the world, Lent is a time of reflection, self-examination - of thinking of our place in the world, how our lives intertwine with our global neighbours and how we share the life gifted to us. It is a journey, as we think about how we follow the Jesus who calls his disciples to a sacrificial love that breaks down barriers, builds bridges, pursues righteousness and demands justice for the oppressed and marginalised.

“We are one flesh and blood, one family, one world. Lent brings us back to our common humanity. Poverty robs people of their dignity and diminishes us all. By walking into the wilderness with Jesus, we stand against all that undermines human flourishing. The only way change will come is if we make them. During Lent, as we reflect on the challenges Jesus faced as he journeyed in the wilderness for 40 days, we stand in solidarity with millions of our sisters and brothers across the world struggling to survive in a desolate place”.

Today, £22 could help provide food for a family like Sori’s, as well as school fees. £22 could also buy 50kg of livestock feed to keep essential animals alive.

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Walking with the Internally Displaced

Christian Aid introduce their Lent campaign

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