IGANGA, UGANDA: In a bid to reduce hunger cases in Iganga district, eastern Uganda, Village Of Needy Uganda (VON UGANDA) has committed itself to assisting vulnerable households to overcome food insecurity amongst the needy.
The Iganga community-based organization is also supporting villages in financial literacy, livelihood programs, and food and nutrition assistance to address emergencies. They are mobilizing communities using their slogan, “Everyone in the community can contribute towards fighting hunger in our area” something which calls for a collective effort towards addressing food crisis issues in the community.
Referring to food markets as their first donor points, VON Uganda gathers yet-to-be-wasted and excess food from these markets and they proceed to donate it to the needy especially children’s homes, orphanages, old and polygamous needy families.
Ms Kyatte Zahara, a programs officer at VON Uganda says they have always sought food donation from Iganga central market which they later distribute to the needy people once an emergency arise. She commended the vendors in the market for always donating to the hungry people.
“The central market has created smiles on many faces of hungry homes in Iganga, many families which are starving approach us for food but when our stores are empty, we quickly rush to Iganga central market donate to us a lot of food to take for the hungry people,” Ms Kyatte said, referring to the market vendors as great heroes.
Mr Wandera Ashraf, one of the co-founders of Village of the Needy says they receive between 20-50 hunger-related cases on a weekly basis, calling for their immediate response and they resort to the central market for food collection to support needy families before seeking additional support from other well-wishers.
Wandera also appealed to the general public to remain supportive whenever there is any call that needs a quick response, saying many people are dying indoors because they lack what to eat and others have developed diseases caused by hunger which have claimed lives. He says they collect food from local markets every week to respond to hunger emergencies in communities.
Speaking to DailyExpress, Grace Kaziba, a caretaker at Faith Babys’ home in Iganga says they always receive abandoned children from police and the immediate need is feeding them and medical care. He thanked VON Uganda for always supporting them with good donations.
“The food donation always received from Village Of the Needy contributes big to us. With this big number at our home, we are supported with a variety of nutritious food and we pray that these food partners do not stop this good work of offering us free food,” Kaziba said adding that they are currently having over 120 children and feeding them is their greatest worry.
According to research conducted by World Counts, over 9 million people die every year of hunger and hunger-related diseases around the world which is more than from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. They reflect that in every 10 seconds, there is a child who dies of hunger.
Their research also reflects poor nutrition and hunger among the factors responsible for the death of 3.1 million children a year, which is nearly half of all deaths in children under the age of 5. Children die because their bodies lack basic nutrients and Globally, at least 822 million people suffer from undernourishment according to world counts research.
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