British actress
Emma Rigby has just returned from a visit to Northern Kenya to see how relief funds have been used to support the millions of residents drought has left in urgent need of food and water.
The funds were
raised from the Disasters Emergency Committee and the Catholic International Development Charity's (Cafod's)’s East Africa Crisis Appeal.
“Through no fault of their own, the drought has caused people to lose their entire livelihoods —livestock, including cattle, goats and camels —
which they are utterly dependent on for their survival,” said Emma, 27.
On an emotional five-day trip, the ex-Hollyoaks actress visited remote parts of northern Kenya, travelling with Cafod and its local Caritas aid workers to see how they deliver emergency aid to vulnerable families.
Visiting the Daaba community in Isiolo, she saw how a mobile nutrition clinic, was a life-line to mothers and their malnourished children.
Emma continued: “Here, the community decided, with Caritas Marsabit, on a better way to distribute food aid that didn’t involve queuing, but did involve the participation of the community in their village groups.
“What might seem a small detail to me or you, meant so much to the mainly women I met. They told me they felt in control, and their ‘dignity had been restored’.
Three months may have passed by since this crisis hit the media headlines, but the needs are still great, the effect of this drought is not over.
Cafod and its local aid workers are doing invaluable work, providing aid where it’s needed most.
I’ve learned that the aid I saw being delivered is more than just aid; it truly gives people a sense of hope and restores dignity,” she added.