Working Together to Share Hope
World Renew-Canada’s executive director, Jamie McIntosh, recently visited the south of Madagascar with Cheryl Weber, host of the Canadian television show 100 Huntley Street. Though the dry season had barely begun, the air was thick with dust; and where raging rivers once flowed, there were mere trickles of water. The region has been facing its worst drought in 40 years.
In Madagascar, 90 percent of the people depend on farming for survival. But crops cannot grow in the drought-weary soil, and families are left struggling with hunger. While cactus and cassava manage to grow in the dry, cracked earth and many families thank God that they have these at least these foods to eat, McIntosh and Weber said they saw that children are showing the telltale signs of acute malnutrition – distended stomachs, frail bodies, and dry hair.
World Renew, in partnership with Canadian Foodgrains Bank, is working to address the food needs of 2,000 of the most vulnerable Malagasy citizens affected by the drought this season.
In a follow-up to their visit to the region, Weber and McIntosh cohosted an episode of 100 Huntley Street to share the heartbreaking challenges families in Madagascar face trying to find food. McIntosh also noted, however, that the people he met were resilient. They weren’t asking for handouts but for hope for the future.
Weber encouraged the show’s viewers to support World Renew’s food security project in Madagascar. With the dry season fast approaching, the project will focus on providing families with emergency food baskets containing rice, beans, and cooking oil. Canadian Foodgrains Bank will match all donations made to support this project 4:1.
The food baskets will help to extend Christ’s hope and ensure that families survive the dry season—and that they can grow healthier and stronger and more able to move forward to find sustainable ways to address food insecurity.
To view a recording of the episode of 100 Huntley Street, click here.
