Violent conflict in Ethiopia’s northernmost region of Tigray has sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from their homes. Responding in Jesus’ Name, Samaritan’s Purse is working with local churches and other groups to help suffering families in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
Our teams and partners, including church partners, are distributing hygiene kits, solar lights, and cooking equipment. Samaritan’s Purse Canada has deployed 15 members of the Canadian Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to serve in this response.
Right now we are working in an area that has become a hotspot for these hurting people. Many traveled nearly 200 miles to escape fighting. Families are temporarily sheltering in schools, churches or mosques in the area.
Some say they and their children have gone as long as three months without a reliable source of food.
When the armed conflict reached her hometown, Simret fled with her two toddler children. “We couldn’t find food for one week, and when we did find food, it was not enough for my babies.”
They slept in churches and schools along the way and arrived a few months ago severely malnourished. This is just one of thousands of such stories emerging from these dire circumstances.
If you are interested in joining our DART roster to be a part of these types of disaster responses, click here to apply.
This crisis has been especially hard on young children. To help the most vulnerable among the displaced, each family with children under age five receives ready-to-eat supplements to provide a month’s worth of adequate nutrition for each child.
This emergency intervention is critically needed to save the lives of children at risk of acute malnutrition.
“I am so happy and so thankful for this gift,” Simret said. “It will really help us.”
During our distributions, our medical teams are also conducting nutrition screenings to identify mothers at risk for malnutrition and provide them with additional nutritional supplements.
Simret hopes for peace and to be reunited soon with the rest of her family.
“I don’t know where my brothers are now. I cannot find them,” she said. “I hope that we will have peace so we can be together again soon.”
In the coming days, our teams will also begin distributing solar lanterns to families and sheets of tarp for repairing or constructing shelters.
Please pray for peace in Tigray and for the people who have suffered greatly in this area. Pray also for our teams as we share the love of Christ in the midst of a growing humanitarian crisis.
In the midst of political crisis around the world, Samaritan's Purse stands ready to meet the needs of citizens and our partners on the ground. Your gift allows us to supply basic necessities and offer emotional and spiritual support.