You’ve helped to provide life-saving support
We have worked in Dadaab Refugee Camp for 20 years, and thanks to the support of people like you, we are able to provide emergency distributions of food, water and medical supplies helping everyone at the camp.   One of the most immediate needs for new refugees like Zeynab is water, because walking for days leaves people dehydrated.  We have been at the forefront of ensuring Zeynab and fellow refugees have access to clean, safe water.  We’ve fixed boreholes and constructed water lines and tap stands.   We’ve also built 4,000 latrines to reduce the risk of cholera and other diseases.  Zeynab told us:   ‘We were in desperate need of water. If CARE did not help us, and give us water, many lives would have been lost. Having a place to relieve ourselves has been a great need too, especially for us women.  We are all very grateful.’  

You’ve helped families to have hope for the future
Our long term development programmes have helped hundreds of thousands of people like Rahma, a 14 year old orphan, from having to leave their homes for refugee camps in search of food.  Most of Rahma’s cattle died from the drought, and so the only way she and her 16 year old brother Muuse were able to earn money for food was to cut down trees, and turn them into charcoal to sell at the market – which is both environmentally unfriendly and unsustainable.  But things have changed since CARE came to their village.  Rahma joined a village savings and loans group set up by CARE and was able to buy two cows, which produce milk to sell in the market.  From the milk sales they have been able to send their younger siblings to school.    Rahma said ‘ Since the death of my parents we both gave up our dream for development and focussed on how to find food and water.  Now we have good dreams; I want to learn and become a teacher, and my brother wants to be a doctor”

However, communities are still vulnerable, as it can take years to recover from a severe drought.  Another poor harvest or a rise in food prices could see families once again in need of help.  With your ongoing support we can continue to help more people like Zeynab who have been forced to leave home in search of food and water. We can also help more people like Rehma to stay in their communities and have hope for the future. 

None of this would be possible without the support of people like you – thank you very much! 

To find out more, please click here.