In these times I struggle a lot when people tell me that this year there is not enough money to buy a new car or they have to cancel the weekend trip, that traveling is so limited, that hip concerts and street festivals cannot take place…. and that we loose so much money. Don’t get me wrong: times are not easy. And I miss certain things, too. But we are still so rich in our bubbles of Western life style…

Poverty looks different…

Poverty has dimensions that we cannot even imagine – in a world where power comes out of the plug, drinking water and health insurances are a given, heavy discussions in TV on the lost generation of children that do not have a chance to go to school at the moment get our attention… maybe we start to understand a little bit more what poverty could mean. Maybe. And maybe we will change a few things for better in the future. Maybe…

Read this letter that I got from our communities in Kenya yesterday. It’s just one report of many … day by day

“Dear Manuela, hope you’re all fine. We’re fine.

The people with are supporting with food are extremely happy and so much appreciating the support. Thanks for all this. It’s with great concern that people opened up and said that what we have done to them in terms of enhancing their livelihoods and restoring confidence to life and live longer is such a wonderful thing that nobody has ever done to them. Nobody has ever visited their household’s and given them support of food, soap, masks, shelter, clothing, and provided them with trainings on safety, hygiene and sanitation.

They have sleep less nights, being hungry and not having any income, mental issues and fears on how the future will look.

Some of them have concerns about getting back to their farms after the floods have destroyed their crops. It is now a night mare.

And then the bedbugs…

Bedbugs are also a big problem to our people and now with a few last shillings that I had I had to buy some items and sprayed some households…. ,” writes our local NGO partner.

Bedbugs? I admit this is now a problem I had never thought of before…

Hygiene trainings are useful. Having soap is great. But all this is not enough – if night by night you cannot sleep because of bed bucks, if flies sit on food and cockroaches live in your house.

We have to clean the homes of our communities from these insects, esp the houses of the very poor who had no chance to care about hygiene in the past and to eradicate the bedbugs and cockroaches. Especially, this is the case of people with Albinism and the elderly plus the neighbours.

We need to do more.

We could, we can make the world a better one. If we start doing it. And more of us would engage. Don’t you think so,too?

And do you know what?

Let’s keep a smile if we have to limit our travels a little bit a the moment. If our weekends look different. If we have to live with financial restrictions. If we are not sure about our jobs. If our children are bored by staying at home. All this creates problems and challenges. But we have a good basis to survive. Don’t forget: Life can be much worse.

Call to action:

We need seeds and soaps, building homes that got lost because of the floods, food parcels, more hygiene materials. If you want to help, please donate. https://paypal.me/pools/c/8pKpKiCiP0

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