MCC works with Dutch partner to feed Ethiopia's displaced

Mennonite Central Committee
Saturday, 15 July 2000

DESSIE, Ethiopia --Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is helping some of the most forgotten people affected by drought in Ethiopia.

Through the Canadian FoodGrains Bank, MCC sent 655 metric/721 tons of wheat to help feed 14,000 people currently without a home. A Dutch Christian agency, ZOA Refugee Care, is distributing the food, which arrived in Ethiopia in June.

"These people are living on the streets. Many of them are very desperate," says Ina van Uffelen-Kerkdyk, a project coordinator for ZOA. "The displaced people seem to be a forgotten group right now."

Many of them are Ethiopians who lived and worked in neighboring Eritrea, formerly part of Ethiopia. Thousands were displaced in 1991 after Eritrea gained its independence after a civil war with Ethiopia. When hostilities again flared in 1998, another 13,000 were displaced.

Many have no family or other support systems to return to, and no hope of finding work in drought-stricken Ethiopia. So thousands are now living--and in some cases, dying--on the streets of Dessie, a crowded town some 400 km/250 miles north of the capital Addis Ababa.

On one busy street, a group of these people without a home sit next to crude shelters, made from burlap and plastic. They talk about their need for food, shelter, medical care, even blankets. When asked about her needs, one woman responded quickly, through an interpreter: "First is food and second is clothing."

So far, on this day in early June, she has shared one piece of bread with her three children. She is separated from her husband and has no relatives to help her. The street is her only home. Her shawl, wrapped tightly around her shoulders, is her only blanket.

When she and other displaced people arrived in the Dessie area, the Ethiopian government gave each adult household head 1000 birr (approximately $200 Cdn./$136 U.S.) and nine months of food assistance.

"You cannot integrate a person who came with nothing but 1,000 birr," observed one relief worker in Dessie. The government, however, doesn't consider displaced people as drought affected, and therefore they are not eligible for emergency food assistance.

However, the drought has meant a rise in the price of food. It has also forced more people to beg, making it difficult for the weak to compete. The Municipality of Dessie town reported that between July 1999 and March 2000, 403 of the homeless people died. Lack of food and cold are major contributing factors to the deaths.

In Ethiopia, MCC works together with Eastern Mennonite Missions, under the name Mennonite Mission in Ethiopia (MME). MME works closely with the Mennonite church in Ethiopia. Linda Hovde, who together with her husband Bob represents MME in Ethiopia, said the Mennonite church was looking to help those hurting during this time of war and drought. So when they heard of ZOA's desire to work with displaced people in Dessie, it felt like a good fit.

ZOA has found helping the displaced people to be challenging, but was able, after much persistence, to get the necessary permission to distribute emergency food. The three month emergency relief assistance was set to start in June. ZOA will also explore the possibilities of additional support to help the displaced people reintegrate into Ethiopia.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org