Family packs
From March 2020, Eagles Wings has been actively supplying funds to feed the starving and most vulnerable afftected by the Covid virus pandemic. Specific centres managed by trusted partners are being empowered to make up 5 kilo emergency food packs from bulk supplies purchased locally. Typically this includes cooking oil, salt, sugar, wheat flour or maize, dall, rice and local vegetables and could keep a family fed for a week.
Local transport
To date, 15 centres in 5 nations (Nepal, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Uganda) have been actively distributing food to the most vulnerable old people, the sick, nursing mothers, orphan children, slum dwellers and excluded tribal and untouchable groups. Many of them were not able to receive any support at all from anybody and are more in fear of dying from starvation than catching the virus.
Supermarket shopping in Pakistan
Sadly, we anticipate that this problem will develop further as many have been locked down and have not able to earn income to plant food for the coming season. Our own medical centre in Uganda is in a ‘border area’ which also means longer and very strict lockdowns and limited access to normal supplies of food and drugs.
Due to the lockdown and with overcrowded homes in slums and areas of extreme poverty, there has been a dramatic rise in the abuse of young girls resulting in pregnancies in the Machakos and Nairobi districts of Kenya where we have people on the ground. I have been given estimates of up to 5000 girls in those two regions alone from age 11 upwards who have become pregnant. I personally find this so difficult to handle emotionally, along with the report that children are being offered for sex to help families survive.
Mukuru slum, Nairobi
At times I, Bruce, get overwhelmed at the desperate plight of so many living in such tragic situations. I get the first-hand calls of corrupt officials seizing funds illegally, politicians who are more concerned about their political future and campaigns, untouchable peoples and people of the ‘wrong’ religion being excluded from legitimate aid and beaten up, and the shame of families whose daughter has been raped or abused and nobody cares!
I do care and I promise to make every donation count as best I can, both today and tomorrow, as the crisis bites deeper.
Thank you for your support. Bruce.
PLEASE CLICK THIS JUST GIVING LINK TO DONATE TO OUR 2021 VIRUS STARVATION PROJECT:
Kahuana Brickmaking village in Pakistan