Caption: Fr Paul Areman of Lodwar Catholic Diocese (centre) receives a cheque of Sh104,290 donated by students of St Charles Lwanga to help feed hungry residents of Turkana County.
In a rare act of benevolence, students of St Charles Lwanga High School in Kitui County last week donated Sh104,290 to help feed the hunger-stricken residents of Turkana County.
Presenting the cheque to Fr Paul Areman of Lodwar Catholic Diocese, the school’s principal Nicholas Muasya said the students had made the donation out of their humanitarian programme through which they reach out to the less fortunate in the society.
Turkana is among 23 counties across Kenya worst hit by the prolonged dry spell that has led to starvation and consequential death of scores of livestock and left more than 1.3 million Kenyans hopelessly battling with hunger.
“We felt compelled by the suffering of our fellow citizens and decided to contribute the funds in aid of our brothers and sisters who are in dire need of food and water owing to the ravaging drought,” said Mr Muasya.
“It is our duty as teachers to instill and cultivate a custom of generosity among these young people with a view to nurturing a philanthropic generation that feeds, waters, shelters and protects one another,” he added.
Receiving the cheque, Fr Areman said the drought situation in Turkana is so severe such that the residents have resorted to feeding on wild fruits and roots in order to survive.
He termed the relief food being distributed in the area by the State as hardly enough to cushion the locals against the biting food shortage and urged more donors and charitable organisations to help save the poor families from imminent starvation.
“Besides, the persistent famine has seen pasture and water diminish greatly thereby forcing a section of the pastoralist community to move to neighbouring areas in search of food and water for their families and cattle,” he added.
Fr Areman as well regretted that many schools in the county have remained closed since the start of first term in January as school-going children have abandoned studies in order to help their parents look for food and water.
The man of the cloth also challenged other schools across the country to borrow a leaf from the students of St Charles Lwanga and participate in charitable activities in the small ways they can.
He said the money will be spent on the church’s emergency response kit to purchase food and other basic supplies for the hungry community.