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VSO - Sharing Skills, Changing LivesNews from around VSO > AfricaEast Africa Food Crisis11 million people across East Africa are at risk of starvation. The worst drought in the region for 20 years means water remains scarce, animals have died in huge numbers and food prices are rising in the face of people’s worsening poverty. Emergency aid is urgently needed but so too are longer-term solutions. This is where VSO comes in.VSO is not a relief agency but we are working with our partner organizations in affected countries to help develop long-term solutions to the current crisis. VSO volunteers are seeing firsthand the effect the drought is having on development efforts. In Kenya, for example, VSO volunteers working on HIV & AIDS programmes have seen how inadequate nutrition is affecting the health of people living with HIV. Education volunteers are seeing children beginning to drop out of schools as families increasingly need to use their money to contend with rising food prices and are unable to pay school fees. There is also a decrease in community participation in development work as people change priorities to focus on keeping themselves and their families nourished. VSO is now working to counteract the devastating effects of the drought. In VSO Rwanda, for example we are placing Education managers to work on strategic planning for schools, these strategies include providing meals for those students that cannot afford them at home. We are also considering the possibility of placing volunteers who can give advice and training on water harvesting and conservation, or help to train farmers in diversifying their crops so that they can better withstand poor rains. We are also exploring the potential to send volunteers who can provide training in food processing and preservation, as well as advice on market access, so that more food would be available in the markets. These interventions would begin to ensure that more food and water is available in the months and years to come. Be part of VSO's work in East Africa. Join us. Volunteer. Balkans Bangladesh Bulgaria Bosnia-Herzegovina Cambodia Cameroon China Ethiopia Fiji The Gambia Ghana Guinea Bissau Guinea-Bissau success stories Guyana India Indonesia Kenya Malawi Video from Malawi Maldives Mozambique Namibia Pakistan Papua New Guinea Philippines Rwanda Sierra Leone South Asia Southern Africa Sri Lanka Sri Lanka after the tsunami Video from Sri Lanka Tanzania Thailand Uganda Vanuatu Vietnam VSO's global action for education Zambia Worldwide © VSO unless otherwise stated | Privacy statement | UK registered charity number: 313757
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