There's been a lot of talk of Somalia these days. The UN has declared a famine ransacking Somalia, affecting almost 11 million people and taking the lives of 29,000 children under the age of 5 over the past three months. There are stories of women who walked weeks through the desert with their children, hoping to find respite from the suffering at refugee camps stationed along the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti. Those same stories did not all have happy ending as their mothers were forced to leave behind some of their little ones who succumbed to the silencing grip of hunger & thirst.
The images are heart breaking; the new footage is devastating. I feel like it all hits closer to home at this season of my life when I've got two Afrikids of my own in my care. As I tried to watch an ABC news clip this morning, Micah obstructed my view by covering my eyes with his sticky hands in an attempt to play peek-a-boo. It obviously didn't register with him that some of those kids on the screen live but a few hours drive of his hometown in eastern Ethiopia.
I see the pictures of these little famine victims, and I see the faces of my own sons. The same deep brown eyes. The same kissable nose. And I realize that there is no difference between these children, apart from life's basic necessities of food & water.
I see our little Sam, who was once dangerously underweight himself. With all the weight he's carrying now, it's hard to imagine he's still that same little boy.
May it be the same for this little one as well.
Pray for Somalia.
Give to Somalia.
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