It had only rained for 7 of 1000 days
Denge became bedridden due to drought in Ethiopia, until emergency food relief brought him back to health.
“Up until three years ago I drank a cup of milk every morning,” says Denge, “now I wonder if I will ever taste milk again.”
For most of his life, Denge’s mornings were simple and enjoyable. He would wake up to check on his livestock and crops when the sun was rising and the temperature was cool. After checking in on his animals and crops, he would milk the cattle for a fresh cup with his breakfast. Sadly for Denge, his morning routine would change after decades of consistency.
Farming and herding allowed Denge to gain an honest income. It provided him and his family with enough food to eat and more. But when a severe drought came three years ago he could not farm. The lack of rain made it impossible to grow enough for people, let alone livestock. The group was the most severe in recent memory. It had only rained seven days out of the last 1,000! As a result, Denge lost 90 cattle and 10 camels. His crops were damaged. Denge had little hope; he lost everything.
As we visited Denge, our team passed dead cattle, rotting crops and trees, and the land was simply dust and sand. The never-ending heat and smell made for a stark demonstration of the horrific conditions Denge and his village have been facing for years.
Villages in Ethiopia and countries throughout the global south are facing these conditions almost yearly now. There used to be severe drought once a decade, but now countries like Ethiopia are seeing massive droughts nearly every year. These are the effects of a changing climate and as shown in Denge’s life, this climate crisis threatens people’s incomes and health.
Denge was bedridden for months because there was no food to feed him. Denge’s family was losing him, and this loss would be hard for the family and the village. Denge is an elder in the village and carries wisdom for his community.
After several years of struggling to find ways to feed his family, Denge found hope. This hope came through a food distribution center placed in Denge’s village with partners of Tearfund. Denge and his family could eat healthy meals multiple times daily for the first time in years.
A few months later, our team revisited the village. The drought was still severe, and livestock was still struggling to survive, but we saw a familiar face. There was Denge, smiling and eager to share the three English words he had learned, “Thank you, Canada.” Denge’s health had been restored thanks to the distribution of food and now he could focus on his livelihood again.
But the story didn’t end there.
Now that Denge, his family, and the village had enough to eat through the food distribution, Tearfund and its partners are planning conservation agriculture training to help farmers grow more drought-resilient crops and create new methods to cultivate the land so that livestock can have more to eat. Because climate change will continue to threaten lives and livelihoods, Tearfund helps people adapt to the unjust situation.
The sad reality is that climate change affects those already vulnerable to malnutrition, food shortages, water scarcity and diseases. Again and again, we see from our partners worldwide that as climate change worsens, the lives and livelihoods of millions of people are destroyed.
At Tearfund, we care about creation and the climate crisis because we love and care for our neighbours. If we fail to care about climate change, then we fail to love our neighbours and fail to care for people like Denge and his family. Tearfund seeks to love and care for creation and our global neighbours by helping our partners adapt to the ever-changing realities of the climate crisis.
