The Million Starving Children in Africa You’ve Never Heard About

American Missionary Doctor Calls for Help

“Conditions are the worst I’ve seen”

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As a US doctor serving in the country of Sudan through times of war, famine, drought, and disease, Dr. Tom Catena has seen it all.

Originally from New York state – a graduate of Brown University and a distinguished college football player – he made the choice to leave it all behind to work in one of the most remote and desperately impoverished areas of the world.

Now that area has been declared to be in an official state of famine – the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world today.

Dr. Tom is known as “the hands and feet of Jesus Christ” by the local people, where word has long since spread of his selfless service. Recognized as an international humanitarian, he’s received global honors like the Aurora Prize Laureate for Awakening Humanity, the Catholics in Media Associates Social Justice Award, and the Gerson L’Chaim Prize for Outstanding Christian Medical Missionary Service. He’s been the subject of numerous documentaries, media interviews, and even had a stamp issued in his likeness.

Dr. Tom often lives without running water or electricity. He’s served in the Nuba Mountains for over fifteen years. He’s worked seven days a week, and  been on call every night for emergencies. He’s dodged bombing raids, pulled all-night stints to treat truckloads of injured, survived tuberculosis in his brain, and endured bouts with malaria that have almost killed him more than once.

“My faith is the only thing that’s kept me here,” the missionary doctor once told Fox News, saying “without a doubt” that is what sustains him. The work is draining both physically and emotionally. And as Dr. Tom put it, “there’s way too much tragedy for anybody to bear by themselves.”

Now he says conditions in the Nuba Region are the worst he’s seen in the fifteen years he’s spent in Sudan. And he’s sending out a call for help.

The unseen victims of war. Sudan’s civil war has displaced millions of families in camps where starvation is setting in.

“The Nuba Mountains are on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe,” he tweeted. “With over 3 million people at risk of dying from hunger and no access to basic necessities, the situation is the worst I have witnessed in fifteen years.”

A brutal civil war raging into its second year has devastated Sudan’s cities, infrastructure, and people. Over ten million Sudanese were forced to flee their homes – most to refugee camps where instead of dying by artillery shells, they now risk death from starvation or disease.

The chaos of Sudan’s civil war brought agriculture to an abrupt halt in the country and blocked supply routes. Trapped Sudanese have no food and no way out. But the world is largely ignoring the catastrophe.

Fleeing to the Mountains

Dr. Tom Catena helped found Mother of Mercy Hospital, the only medical facility of its kind for hundreds of miles across the remote Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Now it is estimated that well over a million people have fled to Nuba to escape Sudan’s widespread conflict.

But the arid region reels under the effects of a two-year drought like much of Sudan, and scant food supplies already jeopardize its population. There’s no food for the thousands of internally displaced people arriving daily, setting the stage for a hunger crisis of massive proportions.

It is reported 26 million Sudanese are in crisis level hunger – half the country’s population.

The need is so overwhelming, Doctors Without Borders said they’ve stopped treating children with moderate malnutrition in order to focus on the most severe ones.

At the Agiri Refugee Camp in Nuba, rumors spread of a coming food delivery. Over 48,000 people began lining up to register. It’s only the third delivery here since January.

“We are prioritizing small children,” said Omar Isa Mohamed, who’s been at the camp for months as a volunteer. “The numbers are overwhelming.” The agency said they’re running out of their high-protein nutritional supplement known as Plumpy’Nut, which has proven crucial to rehabilitate starving children. At the time they had only a two-week supply left.

It’s feared Sudan’s escalating famine could reach the devastating scale of the Ethiopia disaster in the 1980’s.

Plumpy’Nut

One of the most effective weapons in the arsenal against malnutrition is the scientifically formulated nutritional supplement known as Plumpy’Nut.

Plumpy’Nut is compact and easy to ship. It requires no preparation, cooking, or refrigeration so it can be used without difficulty in remote refugee camps. It has a shelf life of up to 24 months.

A high-protein, fortified, peanut-based paste, Plumpy’Nut provides all the essential nutrition needed to promote recovery in malnourished children, making it the most widely used by NGOs worldwide to save children on the brink of starvation

Time is running out. Mothers in Sudan’s horrific famine wait helplessly while there’s nothing to feed their children.

Send Lifesaving Nourishment

Sudan Relief Fund has served the afflicted in Sudan and South Sudan for more than 25 years, in peace time and war time. With our longstanding network on the ground and local partnerships, we’re able to deliver aid in times of crisis into places many others cannot. Tragically, aid agencies have reported food relief and medical supplies sometimes sitting undelivered because trucks couldn’t get through. We are uniquely equipped to bypass scenarios that result in bottlenecks and delays at the border.

We’ve been delivering medicines to the Nuba Mountains in Sudan and food to masses of refugees at border camps. Since the beginning of the conflict and with the help of our donors, we’re sending food to camps and transporting families to safety out of the warzone.

Catholic Bishop Stephen Nyodho of Malakal recently confirmed this as he shared how some global organizations take months to deliver help. But “Sudan Relief Fund’s help is immediate,” he said. “We are very grateful for this intervention, which means we can provide food immediately. Because you understand someone (who is hungry) needs to eat today, and not tomorrow.”

Help Needed Today

For children on the brink of starvation in the Nuba Mountains, Dr. Tom has made it clear that help is needed today. We are positioned to make that happen. But we need your help to reach the incredible number of children in need.

Sudan Relief Fund is ready to deliver Plumpy’Nut to the Nuba Mountains to provide critical food aid to the masses of displaced people suffering in the harshest conditions imaginable. Your partnership will save thousands of starving families in the Nuba Mountains and rescue children from death by acute severe malnutrition.

We’re mounting an effort to deliver as much of this lifesaving nourishment to starving children as possible – as soon as possible.

Because starvation doesn’t wait.

Miracle Food – Plumpy’Nut is a high protein supplement used by NGOs worldwide that can save starving children if received in time.

Increased Impact

A generous donor has stepped forward to match every gift donated right now through October 2nd up to $300,000. That means your gift to help hungry children will send twice as much nourishing Plumpy’Nut to double the number of children you can help.

Those we serve in Sudan and South Sudan look to us in times of crisis because Sudan Relief Fund not only responds, but delivers aid quickly. Please consider partnering with Sudan Relief Fund and Dr. Tom to save starving children and families trying to escape the horrors of war.

When facing starvation, every minute counts. The world cannot allow millions of people to die from hunger. Please consider sharing any gift you can to save lives today.

One gift. Three times the food. Your donation will triple right now to send 3X the lifesaving nourishment to starving children in Sudan.

Sincerely,

Neil A. Corkery President