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.

Aid in Kisii

Since the troubles started in Kenya, there have been about 300+ refugees camping in Kisii, mainly women and children.

No aid has been sent to the town and the refugees are being supported by the local community, putting a strain on their resources.

I have contacted every major aid agency in Kenya, bit to date, have not a received a reply from any of them.

Is it that these big international organisations, including the UNHCR, are just too self-important to take any notice of the people on the ground who have first-hand knowledge of the situation and the local people?

Or is it that a mere 300 women and children are just not important enough to worry about. After all, Kisii is off the beaten track to Kisumu and Eldoret, and not quite so easy to get to, although I managed it is a small sedan, so I am sure a 7-tonne truck can do it.

I have even offered to drive a load from Nairobi to Kisii myself! My people there can help with distribution. We are, after all, an NGO. This is what we do, just not on the same scale as the big boys.