Oulou* lives in a village in West Africa with his wife and four young children. When he was a young boy, Oulou had polio, which made him lose the use of his legs. Today, 37 year-old Oulou is one of the many individuals taking part in the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC)’s West Africa drought response project.

After insufficient rainfalls and poor harvests in Niger this past year, CRWRC is providing food assistance to 28,434 individuals in rural areas and in the urban capital of Niamey, and distributing improved seeds to 2,384 rural farmers. The main thrust of this initiative is Food-for-Work (FFW) projects in which people have been given the opportunity to make community improvements, such as digging 124,346 Demi-lunes to collect water for plants, digging 21,760 Zaiholes for planting seeds using the conservation farming method, planting several tree nurseries, improving roads so that they will have access to market once the harvest comes, and constructing 9 school classrooms or cereal banks in exchange for food assistance.

In all of CRWRC’s projects, priority is given to highly vulnerable populations such as these. This includes people living with HIV/AIDS, female-headed households, child-headed households, orphans, the elderly, the chronically ill and those with special needs. According to Plan International and Christian Blind Mission, “persons with disabilities are among the most vulnerable groups in times of food insecurity and other emergencies.”

In the case of CRWRC’s West Africa drought response, 300 households have been identified as especially vulnerable and are benefiting from free food assistance.

For Oulou and others who are physically unable to do FFW, CRWRC is making free rations of food available. 3,762 other households are purchasing the food at a subsidized price or receiving it in exchange for FFW. The average family size is 7, so all families receive a monthly ration of 100 kg of grain, 10 kg of cowpeas for protein and 10 litres of oil for fats for 6 months until the seeds are harvested. As of June 15th, 2 months of food aid have already been provided.

“In the heart of the capital near the tallest buildings in the country there is a group of men with disabilities who are working hard to eke out a living,” said Pete Diepersloot, who is serving as an International Relief Manager with CRWRC in one West African country to assist CRWRC’s local staff and partner organizations in carrying out this large-scale food assistance project

Pete and his wife, Ila, spoke with three men who are part of this group. Umana* is 37; he has three children and he only has one leg. Ali* is 36; he has five children and has had polio since he was a boy. Zaccheus* is 38, has four children and also has polio.

According to Ila, many individuals with disabilities have formed such groups. They live close to each other and work from a small shop. In this particular group, the men earn their livelihood by weaving chairs. They make two chairs per day per person, on average, and sell them for about USD $13. Since it costs about USD $11 to make each chair, the profit is only around two dollars.

When asked how they survive, they said that “none of the groups make enough to get by, so many times there is not enough to eat.” They need about $4 per day for their families to live and to pay the rent of about $20 to $30 each month. They expressed that they very much appreciate the food assistance being given by CRWRC.

Oulou is also grateful for the assistance he has received. Three years ago, Oulou received a hand-operated wheelchair from UNICEF. He is very happy with it and now can go many places he could not go before. He pedals to his field, gets out of his wheelchair and seeds, fertilizes and works the ground while sitting on the ground. He is also grateful for the food assistance from CRWRC that allows him to continue farming during this difficult year. “I have a happy family and much to be thankful for,” he said.

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*not their real names

~ by Vanessa Mathews-Hanna, CRWRC Disaster Response