Prisoners Offer Help to Suffering Community

Moved with compassion for their fellow Kenyans, prisoners throughout Kenya recently chose to forgo their annual New Year‘s lunch in an effort to help victims of the famine that is spreading throughout the country. An ongoing drought has resulted in severe famine conditions in Kenya, as well as Ethiopia and Somalia, and recently Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared the food shortage a national disaster.  Nearly 50,000 prisoners in all of Kenya‘s 93 prisons responded to the crisis by giving up their lunch rations of beans and porridge. More than 2,000 inmates at the Naivasha Prison skipped their first lunch of the New Year and instead gathered for prayers and worship. The money and food saved will go directly to victims of the famine in nearby neighbourhoods.  They hope to continue to share their lunches with the suffering in their community, including their own relatives and friends.