Story number 2 for 12 Jun 2002

(Kenya)–Next, at the outset of the United Nation’s World Food Summit, Africa’s worsening food insecurity is among the matters of growing concern. Kenya’s president says his country’s poverty puts almost half of the population of 30 million people at risk. However, one Christian group is working to combat the crisis, with some success. World Concern’s Shannon Fariel. “We’re ending a project in Narok. We are getting rain, so people are able to plant and to grow, so the food shortage in Narok district isn’t as severe, meaning people won’t die of starvation now. But, overall, WFP (World Food Program) is having a big shortage, and that’s why we’re actually closing the program; there’s no more food coming in.” Fariel says poverty is a way of life in Kenya. It also serves as an evangelistic tool in the hands of a Kenyan youth group who sent help to Afghani refugees. “They took the suffering of the people of Afghanistan, and started praying for them on their own. They are aware that they have made a kingdom difference.”