Tuesday, August 02, 2011
The lush greenery faded to brown as he moved east toward the city of Garissa, in northeastern Kenya.
In the middle of Africa's worst drought in decades, the 44-year-old Calgarian is getting a first-hand account of the devastation.
"They have not had a drop of rain here for three years," Trabadello said from Garissa, which averages a daily high above 30 C.
Trabadello, a regional manager with Samaritan's Purse Canada, an international Christian relief and development organization, flew into Kenya on Thursday as part of the group's emergency response effort. He travels to Africa and Latin America six or seven times a year and said the situation hasn't changed much.
"This has been an ongoing crisis," he said. "It's large scale. It's huge. It affects 10 to 11 million people."
The situation in Africa has gained more attention, though, since the United Nations declared a famine in nearby Somalia last month.
Samaritan's Purse recently reported the Horn of Africa is suffering through a critical food shortage caused by the drought.
The group is providing food rations to more than 2,100 families and is running a supplemental nutrition program for 1,700 schoolchildren over the next six months.
Trabadello said the mission helps communities - such as Garissa and Wajiir - that have seen an influx of Somali refugees.
He said it aims to create long-term viability in the area by restocking livestock and developing efficient irrigation systems.
"You don't want to create dependency," he said. "You want to walk alongside communities to help better cope with the environment they live in."
Like Trabadello, Hussein Warsame, a Somali immigrant teaching at the University of Calgary, said the devastation has been an ongoing problem and he's calling for increased sustainability.
"There's something structural going on, and if something's not done, then it will come back again," Warsame said.
He came to Canada in 1986 and said he's since sent thousands of dollars back home. He's now a member of a Calgary-Somali committee trying to raise more than $50,000 for famine relief.
The group has held planning meetings, distributed flyers, and collected money through events such as a recent prayer service at the Akram Jomaa Islamic Centre.
Warsame said it's important to let people know what's happening overseas.
"We're trying to raise awareness, but at the same time raise money among ourselves," he said.