This note in from Ashleigh Campbell, one of our collegiate correspondents at Union University, summarizing what happened through the IDP camp ministries in Kenya earlier this year:
LIMURU, Kenya – Thousands of Kenyans who had to flee their homes because of the election-related violence in December 2007 are now rebuilding their lives after receiving aid from Southern Baptist workers and more than $56,000 from the Southern Baptist world hunger and general relief funds.
After the presidential elections, violence drove many minority tribal groups from their homesteads and those families looked to police camps, churches and Kenyan Red Cross centers for protection. Southern Baptist workers responded to the immediate needs of four such camps, working with the Kenyan Red Cross to provide food, water, medicine, plastic sheeting for shelter, kitchen utensils and blankets over a period of several months.
“Thousands of desperate, fearful and homeless people were coming into the camps with little to no food and only the possessions they could carry with them,” said Mark Hatfield, who with his wife, Susan, directs work in Sub-Saharan Africa for Baptist Global Response. “People were hungry but afraid to leave the camps because of the potential violence outside. Many were traumatized because of what they had personally experienced or heard others had experienced.”
Southern Baptist workers helped connect Kenyan Red Cross personnel with people who could assist with needs in the camps. They also mentored young workers who had never responded to a crisis situation before.
At first, the food provided by Southern Baptists was the only food the camps had. Clean water was delivered in a 1,000-liter tank for drinking and cooking. Plastic sheeting and firewood also were provided. When other relief efforts brought in staple foods, the role of the workers changed to providing storage areas as well as fresh food. Later on, Southern Baptist relief funds were used to have three pit latrines pumped out, greatly improving camp sanitation.
Two of the four camps are now empty, as most people have resettled locally, returned to their original homes or been transported to their tribal homelands. The people remaining were trying to resettle in the area because it is their tribal homeland. The majority of the children still in the area are in school and some of the adults have been able to find jobs in the area.
“Southern Baptists have made many friends because of this outreach. A great many people have experienced God’s love firsthand as Southern Baptists demonstrated the compassion of Jesus Christ for hurting people,” Hatfield said. “We were able to help families avert disaster and find new hope and purpose in life that they can share with others in turn.”
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For information about donating to the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund, please visit our Giving page.
