Pleading to Aid Agencies

I spend all my spare time ploughing through the plethora of aid agencies working in Kenya and email them stating the plight of the refugees in Kisii. So far I have contacted all the big boys, Red Cross, UNHCR, etc. but had forgotten Oxfam.

I fired off an email on Friday, whilst holding a conversation with my man in Kisii, Vincent, on Skype.

An hour later, I checked my emails and Lo! A reply from Oxfam. It didn't say much, only thanking me for my mail and signalling the problem to them. They would be sending my email immediately to their centre in Nairobi, and they would reply.

As I said, it is not much of a reply, but it is a reply, the first acknowledgement that anyone has read an email from us. Cause for a minor celebration, I think. I celebrated with a cup of tea.

No, not really, I would have had the cup of tea anyway.

I also fired off a press release to our local newspaper, praising the people of this area for their efforts in raising emergency funds to feed the kids at the home and also donating their old cell phones, which will provide much needed shoes for them.

Because food prices shot up as transport problems hit Kenya, the "Christmas" fund at the home, usually used to buy shoes, had to be raided to pay for food. So the kids received nothing last Christmas. ever mind, when I arrive, we will sell the phones and every child will have a new pair of shoes.

And there should be enough to get some clothes for those who need them most.