Famine kitty tops about US $200,000

A famine relief kitty set by the ‘Nation’ group of newspapers to assist the arid Turkana area of northern Kenya has reached about US $200,000, attracting donations from individuals, companies, aid agencies and church organisations. It was set up following reports and pictures of starving people in the Turkana area, although government officials had maintained that the situation was not serious. The Programme Development Manager for the NGO ActionAid, Geoffrey Atieli, said this was a “worthy course” for the beneficiaries. “But this is a symptom of a situation that should never have arisen,” he told IRIN on Friday. Although the response had been “very good”, it would not solve the problems of the Turkana people, he said. “NGOs are being forced to do things they do not want to do because the days are gone when NGOs were welfare- oriented,” he said. “Communities are supposed to do things for themselves but the infrastructure must be available.”