Food.

The ports of Mombasa, Kenya are among the most strategic in the world for WFP. Ships arrive, bearing food for WFP programs in Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

WFP rents warehouses, patrolled by armed security to prevent theivery, which are big as a football field, 3-4 stories high. One warehouse room holds enough food to feed more than two million people.

Margot Hoerrner
Vice President of Outreach
Friends of the World Food Program
WFP Committee Trip to the Field, Kenya - November, 2009
 

Drought.

WFP Committee - Trip to the Field.
Kenya, November 2009.

-Margot Hoerrner
Vice President of Outreach
Friends of the World Food Program
 

WFP Trip to the Field: Kenya, Day 2

Day two of my visit to Kenya with Friends of the World Food Program has been spent adjusting to the jet lag we are experiencing as a result of the 16-hour trip from the United States. Our visit to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust camp/nursery was a very interesting experience and we got to see baby elephants between the ages of 3 weeks and 27 months old. They are being held for recovery after being caught in the wild as orphans. Each baby elephant has a name, they are all "adoptable," and they are all adorable!

After the baby elephants, we were off to see the giraffe center. It was quite amusing to see a sign alongside the road saying "Slow Down Giraffe Crossing." Only in Africa!

Today was a great introduction to one of the primary attractions in Kenya.

Tomorrow, we're off to an orientation with World Food Program staff and a short flight to Mombasa!

-Lillian Pardo
WFP Committee of Kansas City

WFP Interviews Nick Kristof

New York Times columnist Nick Kristof has written several pieces on hunger and the impact of international food assistance programs.  He has traveled extensively across Africa and seen how hunger and poverty rip through developing countries, destroying livelihoods.  Nancy Roman, WFP's Director of Public Policy, Communications and Private Partnerships, recently spoke with Kristof to get his thoughts on the importance of child nutrition, school meals, girls' education, and his firsthand experiences with hunger in Africa.

Read the interview.

Maria Reppas

Media Relations Manager

Friends of WFP

Starting Out at 10,000 Feet!

Our first full day in Peru started bright and early as we left our hotel for the airport around 5 AM. Even though we hadn't gotten much sleep and it was still dark outside, you could feel the excitement in the van as we went to catch our flight.

We flew in a tiny, 15-seater jet up to Ayacucho, a city at about 10,000 feet above sea level. I've never been a huge fan of small planes, but it's hard to complain when I look out the window and see the Andes Mountains sprawling before me and the other beautiful landscapes below. Not only is this my first time in Peru, but I realized it's my first trip south of the Equator! 

After we arrived, we settled into our hotel to get some rest. With such a big altitude change, we didn't know how our bodies would react so we took it easy that day. I got especially lightheaded over lunch, but after drinking some matte de coca (coca tea, a local remedy for altitude sickness) I was feeling much better.

We spent the afternoon at the WFP Ayacucho office, and we met the staff who will accompany us on our program visits.  We took this opportunity to learn more details about the journey.  I just can't wait for tomorrow! We are leaving at 7 AM for the town of Union Potrero to visit the headquarters of ABA, a Peruvian NGO that works with WFP.  Then we'll head into the field to see the incredible things WFP and ABA are accomplishing together on the ground.

Goodnight from Ayacucho!

Jessica Lennon
Communications Assistant
Friends of WFP

Hope is a Red Cup

“Hope is a Red Cup” is a collection of photographs I took in Northern Nicaragua during July 2008. I was traveling with staff and volunteers of Friends of the World Food Program at the time, visiting WFP development programs in that region. Prior to departure, I was told: “This will change your life.” I had no idea how true those words would be.

We arrived on a hot, humid Sunday afternoon and headed into the northern-most reaches of the country to visit small villages that were only accessible by all-terrain vehicles. Our first stop, a clinic for mothers and children, gave me a glimpse into a world that I had never before seen up close. Hunger is a worldwide issue. I’m not talking about the hunger pangs of eating lunch a couple of hours late or skipping dinner and waking up hungry. This is the hunger that is the No. 1 health risk worldwide that deeply impacts a child's physical and mental developmental abilities for life.

During the entire trip, I was struck by the hope that I saw in the faces of the children we met, despite the poverty and hunger battles they were fighting each day. I wanted to find a way to help the children that I was meeting and photographing, and I started brainstorming ways to do it. While in the first round of editing the images after I returned from the trip, the idea for the book was born. I would tell their story, as well as show their images. “Hope is a Red Cup” is my unique and personal contribution to the global community to help end hunger not only in Nicaragua, but around the world.

This is only the beginning. I will be traveling with Friends of WFP in 2009 to Peru and Africa to photograph the people whose lives are changed by WFP programs in those areas. The images I take on upcoming trips will be added to the “Hope is a Red Cup” collection, in the hope of bringing more awareness and needed funds to help end world hunger.

More images from Nicaragua can be viewed on my website at www.rachelhofer.com. Together, the exhibit and the book are available to use as a fundraiser. If you are interested in hosting a fundraising event with these images, please contact Friends of WFP at outreach@friendsofwfp.org.

-Rachel Hofer
Photographer

Purchase the book, "Hope is a Red Cup"