Kimberly Mega -Food Scarcity- Thurs Feb 28th 11:05 pm
As the violence increases in the Congo many relief organizations are helping the almost million people who have been displaced from fighting. Congo is on the verge of a new civil war and the UN is trying very hard to protect its civilians. Many of the locals are frustrated with the UN officials because they have had to cut back on some funding to afford helping with other things. There is too much of a demand for food, shelter and supplies due to the massive amount of people in need. And it becomes increasingly difficult to reach all the people because of the violence. Also, the prevalence of disease is rising because people are on the run and find unsanitary conditions to hide in rather than clean shelters with latrines. An estimated four million people have died since the war began in 1996. A big factor of death is the rapid spread of cholera. No medicine is necessary to treat and cure just a lot of fluids. Unfortunately, this proves almost impossible for relief workers in some situations. Child malnutrition is also rapidly rising but people are forced to leave without anything to support their families. There is hardly any room left to farm and working in the fields would only make people targets for the rebels. It seems like every week I find an article about a country with civil wars and unrest. And it seems like the innocent are always the ones with the most to lose. This finding makes me want to focus on displaced people and especially child malnutrition. In my health class we are discussing the effects of malnutrition on young children and the actions needed to bring them back to health. There are nutrients and supplements needed as well as physical and mental rehabilitation. For most people in these situations the idea of medical attention is far fetched. And unfortunately, there is an unknown amount of time and money to be spent on foreign aid.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/world/africa/16congo.html
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