CHILDREN IN GAMBIA ARE NOT DYING OF STARVATION!

If we claimed that children on Gambia’s streets are dying of starvation it would be a lie. However, if we told you that the rice the girl in the picture is eating might be her only meal of the day, we would confront you with the truth!

In September we are travelling as volunteers to The Gambia again. Our program Travel as a Volunteer continues in February 2014. We would like to make the families happy with a bag of rice. Our sponsors generously donate every month, ensuring the children a meal in school, school supplies, medicine in case the children become sick. But we would like to give them more. They don't need presents, computers, sweets or toys. The most important thing they need is food. RICE!


LET'S JOIN FORCES!
If you would like and are able to help, we kindly ask for a donation for rice to our association’s account. 50 kg of rice costs approx. 35€ and feeds a family for almost a month.

When distributing the rice 5 volunteers from Slovenia are going to be present. Therefore there is no need to worry that the rice or financial support wouldn't reach the families. WE WORK DIFFERENTLY and we want to be known for this.

Information for donors in EUROPE:
Name of organization: DRUŠTVO ZA OTROKE SVETA (Kids Are The World)
Address: Klanc 89, 3204 Dobrna, Slovenija
Account number: SI 56 2900 0005 0687 692
SWIFT: BACXSI22
Purpose: RICE GAMBIA
REFERENCE: SI 99
Account at Uni Credit Bank


Information for donors from all over the WORLD:
CHARITY PEARL THE GAMBIA 
P.O. BOX 2902 
LATRIKUNDA GERMAN,SEREKUNDA 
THE GAMBIA, WEST AFRICA 

Account details:
GHANA INTERNATIONAL BANK LONDON
67 CHEAPSIDE, 1ST FLOOR, REGINA HOUSE
LONDON EC2 6AZ UK, TRUST BANK LIMITED
ACCOUNT NO: 112-26289801
SWIFT/BIC: TBLTGMGM

In Gambia people ALWAYS share the food they have. If they didn’t do this, we would have to publish pictures of starving kids and people. Fact is that the situation in Gambia is not like that. Still this doesn't mean that there is no hunger and malnutrition.

Children from the poorest families are going to school without having a meal, which means that the child didn't eat breakfast, neither a midday snack, nor lunch. The child's only meal is late lunch, when the whole family shares one bowl of rice. How can a hungry child study and how can this child be convinced to stay in school for as long as possible in order to learn a profession and get employed, when a hungry child is thinking only of ways to get some money and buy food. This is also connected with child labor which is »used« by parents to be able to feed their whole family.

No one gets their own plate! When the meal is ready the bowl is placed in the yard and everyone present eat together. Because they live in big communities and are very connected, the number of eaters is very high; women, men, children, relatives, neighbours, ... It is almost impossible to see only one person eating out of one bowl or to see a person with his or her own plate with rice. Therefore the death rate due to starvation is almost non-existent. There are only few such cases in the countryside and in villages, which are quite distant from society.

This fact may mislead those, who decide to help only after seeing horrific scenes from Africa. Hunger and malnutrition is an everyday problem of the poor in Gambia. A bag of rice that would feed a family for almost a month costs approx. 35€. Malnutrition affects the children’s physical and mental development and if we don’t take action, all efforts in the field of education won’t have the desired results either. Starvation can have a permanent effect on children, who were born in a country where apart from all other limitations their nutrition or cultivation of food for their own needs is additionally affected by the unfavorable climatic conditions.
 
If you would like to help and feed one family for a whole month you can do this by sending your donation for rice to our account.

For more details we are available at info@kidsaretheworld.com.

We would like to thank everyone who is going to donate for RICE!