Liasoa

Why should a child with disabilities, like Liasoa, have to eat locusts to survive?

Please will you prayerfully consider sending a generous gift to help vulnerable children and families suffering from the ongoing effects of the famine crisis in Madagascar…

“…Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:40

In July last year we shared our deep concern regarding the ongoing famine crisis in Madagascar.

Generous cbm supporters like you responded to this food crisis, and have helped cbm-funded partners to reach vulnerable children and families on the verge of starvation.

While many have been helped, sadly for many children and their families in Madagascar, the situation is worsening day by day.

This largely unseen famine crisis continues to grow, and with it an estimated 1.3 million people are now affected!

Please send your life-protecting gift today to help protect vulnerable children and their families who are most at risk in this growing food crisis!

We know how much you care for precious children and adults living with disability in poverty, so we are sure you are as upset as us that they are in such danger now.

People with disabilities are too often overlooked in everyday life, and miss out even more during times of crisis. Food distributions may be set up in places people living with disabilities cannot reach.

Disability may mean people don’t hear or know where and how they can get help.

Children like Liasoa are being left behind.

That’s why your ongoing kindness now, to help children like Liasoa and her Grandma is critical.

Only cbm has a special focus on families where there is disability – giving the extra care and support to make sure they are safe. The hard working cbm team in Madagascar has identified a vulnerable group of 1,500 households, including those living with disabilities, at high risk now.

Please send your life-protecting gift today to help protect the lives of those most at risk in this growing food crisis!

Your help is urgent because crops have failed two years running. Food supplies have run out – or are so expensive that people living in poverty cannot afford them. People are eating locusts, wild leaves and raw cactus plants just to survive.

Those most in danger are children living with disabilities, like Liasoa, just nine-years-old.

Liasoa was born with physical and intellectual disabilities. Her parents abandoned her.

Only Liasoa’s Grandma had the courage and love to take in this little girl and support her to survive.

Your courage and love are needed now as we work together to help those most in danger from the famine crisis in Madagascar.

My heart breaks when I think of the suffering of children like Liasoa. But it soars when I think of the transformative power of your faithful support.

As Jesus tells us – in Matthew 25:35-40 – when we feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, and nurse people who are sick, we are also showing Him our faith through our acts.

Please reach out and help people like Liasoa and her Grandma by sending an urgent gift in the next 30 days!

You can imagine how hard life must be for Grandma.

She must do everything for Liasoa. Feed her a teaspoon at a time. Take her to the toilet. Carry her on her back as she fetches water or looks for firewood.

Comfort her when there is no food:

“When we have nothing to eat, I ask my neighbours to give us some in a plate.”

With the little money she earns, she buys rice. She thins it into a watery porridge to make it last. It fills the tummy for a moment, but there is no goodness. No nutrition.

This is when hunger attacks children.

It eats away at Liasoa from the inside. Any fat reserves are long gone, so hunger devours the muscles, making the child – already fragile with disability – even weaker.

The next target hunger stalks are the vital organs. Liver. Kidneys. The brain.

The child is so weak, they don’t even have the strength to cry. The body starts to shut down.

The child closes their eyes in weariness…
…and my great fear is they may never open them again.

This is what famine is doing to children living with disabilities in Madagascar right now. It’s why your generous gift is so important.

Your generosity will help support:

Food – “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.” – Matthew 25:35. Your gift will provide starving children like Liasoa with life-saving food supplies before it’s too late.

Water – “I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.” – Matthew 25:35. Your gift will save children from dehydration and death by providing them with a daily supply of safe, clean water.

Medicine – “I was sick and you looked after me.” – Matthew 25:36. Your gift will provide life-saving medical supplies and critical care to the most vulnerable people affected by the famine in Madagascar.

Please help protect vulnerable lives now – please give urgently in the next 30 days!

In a recent update from the cbm team on the frontlines of this food crisis, they reported success in getting aid through to where it was most needed.

They are very grateful for the support from people like you. They are tired, but determined.

They have said very strongly that more food, water and medicines are needed, and that there must be no delay.

Satry Ramaroson (pictured left) who leads the front-line cbm team in Madagascar says:

“The situation is getting worse, and we urgently need to do more to enable people living with disabilities to access food, water and medicines. If we do not, people living with disabilities will be left behind, and be more at risk from starvation.”

Your gift can help support families to get the food they desperately need, and help ensure people have access to clean, fresh drinking water every day.

Your gift is critical to help provide people living with disabilities access to ongoing medical care, including trauma counselling for any who are children.

Please will you prayerfully consider sending an urgent gift to help provide much needed food, water and medicine to vulnerable children like Liasoa and her Grandma.

The work is hard. The need is great. The challenges confronting. That’s why your prayers are precious, along with your generous gift.

The frontline cbm team face an even more challenging time, but from past support, from people like you, they are thankful for the loving kindness and compassion of the people of New Zealand.

No child should have to eat locusts to survive – thank you for prayerfully considering sending one of your life-protecting gifts to help vulnerable children like Liasoa and her Grandma.

Every day of hunger makes a child weaker. Every day increases the threat of the body shutting down, especially for people living with a disability.

Please send your urgent gift in the next 30 days to help vulnerable children like Liasoa and her Grandma. Thank you!