Help fathers in need around the world
The origins of Father’s Day goes back to 1910 when Sonora Smart Dodd, inspired by her father who raised six children, led a statewide celebration in Washington. Sonora’s father, William Jackson Smart, was a Civil War veteran and a single parent while living in Arkansas. He overcame incredible hardship to raise six kids in the aftermath of the war. Over time, Sonora’s inspiration became nationwide with President Lyndon Johnson issuing a proclamation and Richard Nixon signing Father’s Day into law.
This year we can honor the true spirit of Father’s Day by recognizing the daunting challenges fathers are encountering as famine descends upon many nations.
In Somalia, Aliyow had to carry his kids on his shoulders walking for seven days searching for food and water. There is a severe drought in Somalia and people are dying every minute, according to a new report from Save the Children and Oxfam.
Aliyow is trying to save his kids’ lives by finding food, but that is many miles away as drought has taken everything. Aliyow and his kids had “Seven nights sleeping in the open, exposed to insects, predators and even thieves,” as told by the International Organization for Migration.
Eventually Aliyow and his children reached a town where humanitarian aid is provided. But relief agencies like the World Food Program are so short of funding they are struggling to provide life-saving aid. The world has not turned its attention to the starvation in Somalia. There are international disasters like Ukraine which get most of the news coverage. Hardly anyone is paying attention to Somalia and East Africa where people are dying from hunger.
Darur, a Somali father of four says, “We came here because of hunger. I was a farmer and was herding animals, but I lost 27 goats and three cows due to this drought. I don’t have anything to feed my children.” So Darur led his family on a 400 km journey to find food.
That is how desperate fathers are in Somalia right now. Another neglected area of the world where fathers are struggling is in the D.R. of the Congo. This African nation has nearly 26 million people that are experiencing severe hunger. There are millions of people displaced within the country due to conflict. Refugees from other countries are also in the DRC.
There is such little media attention to the DRC, and funding for relief operations is struggling, which harms any peace process.
Think of all the fathers in these emergencies who are struggling to take care of their children. It’s gotten harder for many because food prices are extremely high as the war in Ukraine has disrupted the global supply chain.
In Palestine families are finding it harder to afford food, and they depend on the World Food Program for assistance. Sameh’s daughter Layan, was born with the disease Thalassemia, a blood disorder that causes anemia. So food is especially vital for Layan as part of her treatment.
The World Food Program, with funding from U.S. Food for Peace, is able to provide assistance. But it is getting more difficult because of the high prices. Many families in Gaza and West Bank are not able to buy as much food with vouchers from WFP because the prices have gone up so much. Fathers like Sameh are facing difficult months ahead.
The Father’s Day gift Sameh and many others need is the world’s attention. We need to recognize the severity of the global hunger crisis.
The WFP director David Beasley says 325 million people worldwide are marching toward starvation. Twenty countries including Somalia, D.R. Congo, and Yemen have been identified as the most severe emergencies. And many other countries are close to entering this horrible category.
You could help them by donating to WFP, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, CARE, World Vision, UNICEF and many other relief agencies. You can write to Congress asking them to increase global food aid. This Father’s Day be an advocate to help fathers around the globe feed their kids.