The Hungry
The Hungry
By Scott Nordstrom
“It is impossible for me to do nothing.”
I cannot say that I know what it is like to be physically hungry. I mean a sustained hunger that is based on a lack of food, this reality is foreign to me. I also cannot ignore those that I know are in this situation. I cannot turn away from them or ignore their plight.
In many of the places we serve it is not hard to find hungry children. We do serve in hard places. I have on several occasions had the opportunity to look into the eyes of hungry children. It was not a good experience. It left me feeling helpless, guilty, angry, and finally empty inside. My visit to South Sudan in 2019 was such a time as I was moved by compassion.
Last evening, I asked Despina, my wife of almost 33-years, about a distant wealthy contact that she had and whether she could schedule a meeting for us to talk to them about helping children. Note that this request was out of the blue. She asked me whether I was serious, and I explained that I know of thousands of hungry children in need of food, and yes, I am serious. She gets it.
Children at Adoor Primary School receiving lunch. We serve 603 orphan children at this feeding centre.
South Sudan is the place where we feed the most children within our Nutrition Initiative and where circumstances are most dire, however, Ethiopia and Kenya are also having trouble with food supplies for their people.
Funding that we have provided on a per child basis is actually down by 25% in 2023. This compounded with increased prices has caused meal portions to decrease by 30% +/-. This is not ideal for near-famine conditions.
In South Sudan, we are currently struggling to feed 1,502 orphan children in the Aweil area at three different schools. What I can share with you is that we are experiencing rising prices for food year-over-year, which has caused portions to decline as our program funding has not increased. In fact, our monthly funding to support this effort is down by nearly 4% in 2023.
Several factors do contribute to this issue in that we have four initiatives providing impact in countries throughout Africa and Asia, and all of our initiatives require support out of our general fund. We simply do not have a general fund that can support a growing number of children in need along with increases in the costs of providing such care.
So, I share this with you today to highlight children that are hungry. Frankly, if we don’t feed them, I don’t know who will. We will continue to do what we can, but an additional $800 is needed monthly just so we can increase portions.
The area in which we serve is Northern Bahr el Ghazal which is experiencing Emergency levels of Acute Food Insecurity.
At a nearby school in Aweil Town, there are another 251 orphan children without food aid. To serve at this location, $4,000 will be required to build a temporary kitchen and to provide the kitchen items needed to serve meals. After these items are in place, another $1,300 monthly will be needed to provide the food required for the children’s meals.
Today, these small incremental costs are out of reach based on our current resource constraints. Does this mean we stop or that we ignore the need? No.
This reminds me of the Samaritan Road, you know the one, where there was a man beaten and left for dead in the ditch by the road. The first two passer-bys avoided the man in need, or ignored him all together, and then the Good Samaritan stopped and offered aid. In fact, he helped far beyond what might be expected.
I believe that this is our Samaritan Road experience. I understand that many of us have done so much already, even for orphan children, so many of us could be excused to consider this situation.
Others might think that while these children are in need, at least they are getting something. Well, yes, something is better than nothing, but how many of us are just getting by on barely enough? I don’t believe that many of us would fall into this category, so why would we think it is o.k. for orphan children to have the bare minimum when it comes to food?
My prayer is that many will come to know of the children’s need for food in South Sudan, and that these people would, like the Good Samaritan, be moved by compassion to help these precious children that are in need.
What Will You Do?
Global Orphan Relief (GO!) in collaboration with Christ Mission to the World (CMW) establishes feeding centres at village schools to provide meals to orphan children and have inspired an education campaign promoting vulnerable children to attend school.
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Global Orphan Relief (GO) has been serving orphan children since 2005. We have accomplished this work through local in-country partners that provide oversight and distribution of care.
We have served in South Sudan since 2016 and have provided an estimated 1.8 million meals impacting more than 3,200 children in South Sudan. The scale of this initiative has grown by over 7 times since our launch in 2016, and this growth is driven by the near-famine conditions, influx of refugees from Sudan, and other socio-economic challenges in this country.
In cooperation with three partners, Kids for the Kingdom, Christ Mission to the World, and 200 Orphanages, there has been $143,000 invested in four school sites since October 2020. This investment provided for clean water, kitchens, storerooms, and latrines, all which allows for cost-effective distribution of food aid in these communities.
About the author Scott Nordstrom who leads GO! today and has done so since we launched in 2005. Scott has served with GO! for 18-years. Scott has been instrumental in deploying 174 volunteers on 29 teams to the mission field, and has personally served in DR Congo, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, South Sudan, and Zambia. Scott is a published author and speaks in the United States, as well as, internationally regarding child welfare and matters of faith, hope, and love.
You may send support or other correspondence to Global Orphan Relief, 16352 Prairie Farm Cir, Parker, CO 80134 or you may give also give electronically at Nutrition Initiative or you may give on this website at the upper righthand corner under ‘Donate’ and choosing Nutrition under the Fund designation.
Movement of FAITH | Voice of HOPE | Act of LOVE
Global Orphan Relief is a Christian relief agency serving Orphans in need and a recognized U.S. public charity, tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3). All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law.