SPANA rescues victims of drought
A terrible drought has been worsening in Turkana, Kenya’s largest county, over the past two years. Water is sparse, disease is rife, and thousands of animals are close to death.
On a recent trip to the region, our team were astounded and deeply saddened by the number of animals separated from their owners after wandering the barren landscape in search of water. Turkana is Kenya’s poorest region, and the people here rely on their animals for milk, transportation and even bringing back water for their own family.
One such animal was Amani, an exhausted and emaciated camel named after the Swahili word for peace. His ribs were protruding and his hump, which serves as a reserve of energy, was deflated – a clear sign of severe malnutrition.
Life in Turkana is unbelievably tough for Amani and the other hardworking animals. There is the blistering heat to contend with, the dry and dirty dust gets into absolutely everything, and the little water accessible is dirty and can spread disease.
Thankfully, with your kind donations we are able to tackle the situation on the ground. We have been working with an international relief organisation to build a solar-powered borehole for these poor animals to drink from.
The borehole works by drawing water from 110 metres underground, and is ideal for areas as vast and remote as Turkana as it requires little maintenance and zero operation costs – so we can help more working animals in the worst of conditions. Once complete, it will supply 7,200 animals and almost 4,000 people with clean water, and will go on to rescue thousands of animals from deadly and horrific diseases in the future.
The need for this borehole could not be greater. The sight of suffering camels like Amani – animals who are the best equipped to survive these extreme conditions – speaks volumes about how desperate the situation has become. Over 600,000 animals including donkeys, cattle, sheep and goats are at risk of slow and harrowing deaths.
It is with your ongoing support that we can get projects like these off the ground so that when terrible disasters happen, we are ready to respond immediately. Without your kind donations, many of these hardworking animals could have faced a long and agonising end to their lives.
On behalf of the working animals of the world that you continue to help, ‘thank you’.