Mothers cry in the midst of crisis

August 1st, 2011 by Fatuma Abdirashid Posted in Drought, Kenya, Women's rights It is said that children, pregnant women and the elderly are hardest hit in the burgeoning humanitarian crisis that has swept over East Africa, and this was evident on the faces that met me in Turkana, in northern Kenya.

Kaituko may not be the worst affected area in the region, but people there were severely suffering. It’s a vast area, but looking at it I was left to question whether any surviving soul exists on such barren and dry, deserted land.

Women in Turkana

When we met the people who call this place home, my emotions were overtaken by the urgency of what I was seeing. My eyes automatically watered as I saw a child desperately cling and squeeze its malnourished mother’s breast in order to retrieve milk which wasn’t obviously forthcoming. The mother held tightly onto a wild fruit (which I wished the baby could somehow feed on, but it was merely a wish) as if to painfully ignore the fact that she had nothing to feed to her hungry child. The scorching heat did not make the situation any better as they stood there asking for some water.
Women and children are doubly affected by the drought, and we have already witnessed many moving stories of mothers forced to abandon their children as they trek for long distances in the wilderness. Mothers have been left to try and save their “stronger” children as they painfully watch the weaker ones die from hunger. This is a tragedy that no one can deny.