<div>Hi, my name is Paul O’Keeffe and I am a lecturer at Dublin City University in Ireland. I am fundraising to support the work of Vijana Twaweza Club (VTC) in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. VTC is a refugee community based organisation that works to address hunger related issues and to empower refugees to improve their own lives.
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<div>Over the last 3 decades, Kakuma refugee camp has hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing wars, persecution, and other atrocities across East Africa. While the camp provides one of the only safe havens in a troubled region, the people living there also  face many difficulties such as poor health care, hunger and malnutrition. In Kakuma most people survive on basic food rations of maize, flour and beans given to them by the World Food Programme once a month. However, as East Africa suffers its 6th consecutive year of drought and development aid is reduced, rations have been cut back and the people in Kakuma are receiving less food than they need to survive. 
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<div>VTC is one of the only refugee-led projects in Kakuma that is fighting back against hunger. I first met its members in 2017 when they were students on a health programme in Kakuma that I managed for the University of Geneva. Following their graduation from the programme, they decided to start their own sustainable farming project to help fight hunger related issues in the camp by raising fish in a small pond that they created and growing vegetables in a garden that they set. Over the last few years the project has increased food production and now feeds many more people with fish that they raise in 6 new fish ponds, meat from a small rabbit, duck and cricket farm and vegetables from new gardens they have set in the camp. 
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<div>With an increased threat of famine facing Kakuma's 250000 residents, it is imperative that more people are empowered to grow their own food by the success of organisations such as VTC. It's for this reason that VTC is starting its newest project, a chicken farming training programme for refugee women. Over the next 6 months VTC will train 15 refugee women to become chicken farmers so they can feed their families and build a better future for themselves and their communities. 
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<div>With this fundraiser I am to raise 1000 Euros so that VTC can start to scale up the project and train more people in Kakuma to become chicken farmers. Currently it costs about 100 Euros to train one farmer, so hopefully 10 more can join the programme in the coming months. The funds will be used to buy all the resources that they need to become successful farmers and raise their own chickens including eggs to hatch, food for the chickens and coops to keep them safe while they grow. Any little that you can donate will be greatly appreciated and will help to make the world of difference for the people of Kakuma. 
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Alexandra Niedermayr

Audrey Hudgins

Sandra Sá Novo

Anonymous

Esiyemeh Idogho

Cormac Burke

Georgia Fitzpatrick

Paul Hegarty

Carla Nichifor

Nathan Ahern

Emily Hickey

Cindy Hotlosz

Christophe Coeckelbergh

laura sicignano

lukas BIEDERMANN

Paul O'Keeffe

Food Security in Kakuma Refugee Camp

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