Will you help these mothers feed their families?
At this time of the year when we celebrate mothers, I am thankful to still have my mother with us in her 90th year. I am reminded and greatly appreciative of how she always did her utmost for her five children. Around the world people celebrate Mother’s Day on different days but what is the same is a mother’s immeasurable love and the sacrifice that she pours into her children. Yet for many mothers in developing countries where Speroway works, the joy of this special season is clouded by the struggle for them to put food on the table for even one meal. Whether it is war, natural disasters, not able to grow crops, raising food prices or little to no family income the ability for many mothers to provide a nutritious meal is almost impossible.
To honour mothers, we are launching a campaign WILL YOU HELP MOTHERS FEED THEIR CHILDREN by delivering meals and home cooking supplies along with providing school and community feeding programs.
I would like to introduce you to just a few of the hundreds of mothers I have met in recent months who each have unique challenges in providing for their families. Meet Ana from Nicaragua with her two boys Roberto and Manuel. Her husband left months ago looking for work in the USA. She has not heard from him and does not know if he is safe. Like all mothers she has dreams and hopes for a better future for her boys yet her current reality is that most nights her boys go to sleep with empty stomachs. Mothers like Ana need help from our home food delivery and community preschool feeding programs in order to survive. Let me share with you a few other stories of mothers who are desperate for food…
Kenya
Meet Grace and her two children Samuel and Tabitha. She tries to earn money selling small household items at the side of the road, she can work 10 to 12 hours to earn a few dollars. With the food prices in Kenya almost tripling she can’t feed her children every day. Kenya has also had heavy rains and devasting floods the past few weeks that has made it even more difficult to provide for children. On the day I visited with Grace I was able to bring some food but that was just one day. We need to continue to deliver food packages for the next few months so these children can eat.
Malawi
Drought has been declared a natural disaster in Malawi from February to May this year. Please consider helping mothers like Ruth and her two boys Emmanuel and Francis. Ruth has had no crops on her little piece of land due to the extended drought and she is completely reliant on Speroway’s feeding program in her community. As a parent of four children myself it is heartbreaking to see children suffer from malnutrition. But this is where you can make a difference by supporting community feeding programs where children can get at least one nutritious meal.
Dominican Republic
Meet Jacqueline and her four kids Gabriela, Luisa, Amalia and Ramon. Her family came from Haiti to escape the violence and gangs but as undocumented refugees, her husband can only find day laborer jobs and must walk great distances to make a few dollars a day. As you can imagine that is not enough to feed their family. They live in a new community called New Jerusalem which has many Haitian refugees. Speroway has initiated a program for feeding preschool kids and home food delivery so families can make a few meals.
When I meet with mothers like Ana, Grace, Ruth and Jacqueline they often have tears in their eyes. They tell me in different ways about how difficult it is to have nothing to feed their children and nowhere to turn for help. I told these mothers I would share their stories and appeal to generous partners like you for extra support during these difficult times. Please consider helping mothers like the ones I have shared to provide the lifesaving gift of food.Together we can make a difference!
