Ethiopian relief efforts witnessed by local
Dublin People 07 Jan 2012A SOUTHSIDE woman has spoken of her experiences in
Ethiopia where she witnessed at first hand the impact that emergency relief
provided by an Irish aid organisation is having on those affected by the food
crisis in East Africa.
Terenure local, Geraldine Kelly, recently returned
from a trip to the country with the international children’s charity, Plan
Ireland.
Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region in general came
into focus last year when widespread media coverage highlighted the urgent food
crisis and drought that took hold of the region.
Geraldine, a director of the business consultancy rXi
Ventures, has been a board member of Plan Ireland since 2008.
She was keen to visit the project to see the work
being done by Plan especially in the areas of education, food security, energy
projects and microfinance.
“Plan has been working on the ground in Ethiopia since
1974 so we are firmly established there,
? she said.
“Our support of women and
children in the country has remained steadfast. My visit to Ethiopia with Plan
was truly inspiring and eye opening. It was so heartening to see the work and
dedication of the medical staff in the therapeutic feeding centre in Taza, who
look after severely malnourished children on a daily basis.
“In addition to this, we were able to visit a number
of long term projects that Plan is running in the area to improve the health
and wellbeing of children and their families in the community, including
creating access to clean water and improving cooking facilities with smart
sustainable energy projects.
?
Plan Ireland’s East Africa Crisis Appeal is supporting
emergency feeding centres where women and children receive essential food
rations.
The Irish based charity will support the running of
the therapeutic feeding centre for the next six months and continue to provide
food rations to the poorest families in the area.
David Dalton, the CEO of Plan Ireland, added:
“Plan
Ireland has been appealing to the Irish and international community not to
forget Ethiopia.
“The reality of the current situation is that many
people are still short of food and depend on essential rations. There are still
starving children lying in therapeutic feeding centres.
“As well as this immediate assistance, we are also
planning to provide longer term support including irrigation to negate the effects
or drought and erratic rains and helping farmers with their future livelihoods,
such as providing livestock to impoverished families.
?
David said that thanks to donations from the Irish
public, the therapeutic feeding centre in Taza was able to open four additional
food distribution points which critically reduce the long walking distances for
families.
“The donations we receive are making a very real and
substantial difference to the lives of many Ethiopian families,
? he added.
“Each year, over
?¬200 million of unwanted gifts will be received in Ireland. We
would like to appeal to the people of Dublin to convert your gift to an
essential one and support Plan’s appeal this year.
?
To find out more and to donate to Plan Ireland’s East
Africa Crisis Appeal visit www.plan.ie; contact Plan Ireland, 126 Lower Baggot
Street, Dublin 2 or call freephone 1800829829.
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