Bringing Darfur Back To Life With Kids For Kids

Kids for Kids is a charity based in Dorking which adopts remote villages in the Darfur region of western Sudan, where children are living in poverty.

The star of BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, Joanna Lumley OBE has been a supporter of Kids for Kids for many years. Joanna Lumley OBE, says: “Goat milk will save a child from starvation, and this is what Kids for Kids do best.They lend both donkeys and goats and save children’s lives. If I can help bring attention to the silence that surrounds Darfur, I will be thrilled. The children don’t have toys – they are lucky if they have water to drink. We can, we will, make a difference because we must.”

Kids for Kids help children that the world all too often forgets. Children in Darfur, live lives of inexcusable and unimaginable hardship. The region sees the poorest families survive on less than £50.00 a year, and, inflation is soaring. Since the creation of South Sudan and the loss of oil, the price of essentials has rocketed, meaning that mothers cannot afford to feed their children wholesome meals.

Prolonged malnutrition is known to damage growth, weaken bones, teeth and destroys brain cells. The future is bleak for these people, but Kids for Kids is there to make a difference, the key project of Kids for Kids is a goat loan, which will enable families to help themselves.

Goat’s milk is full of nutrients, minerals and vitamins with life-changing benefits. It helps prevent osteoporosis, reduce IQ damage, boost the immune system and it has a chemical composition similar to human milk, making it the perfect substitute for breast milk.

Goat loans are just one way the charity helps – Kids for Kids also provide projects suitable to the region which have both an immediate and a long-term impact – they are lifting families out of abject poverty and transforming entire villages.

To date, Kids for Kids have adopted more than 82 villages across North Darfur, improving 364,000 lives in one of the most remote and inaccessible regions of the world, where violence is still a daily hazard on the long walk to clean water.

The grassroots integrated projects have been running for 16 years, and they provide immediate help to families, providing milk for their children to drink, a blanket to sleep under, a mosquito net to protect them from malaria and the access to farm tools.

The team at Kids for Kids are improving the lives of the villagers by providing health care, veterinary care, planting trees and most importantly, access to clean water. The charity’s midwives are saving countless lives and have dramatically reduced the incidence of female genital mutilation.

Patricia Parker MBE, founder of Kids for Kids, said: “Children are hungry, thirsty and at risk. We know we can change their lives, for good, with your help.”

[box type=”shadow” align=”” class=”” width=”600″] For more information about Kids for Kids, visit: www.kidsforkids.org.uk [/box]

By Georgia Lambert