APPEAL CODE: #642-Q
INITIAL APPEAL GOAL: $346,679
SITUATION:
Kenya has been subjected to a series of attacks by militant groups in recent months. After the Westgate attack in September 2013, successive attacks have targeted various settlement towns in Lamu County, located along the Kenyan coastal line.
The attacks began in June, when an armed group attacked Mpeketoni Town, leaving more than 50 people dead. Since then, there have been a series of further attacks, the most recent on July 18, when militants intercepted a public bus running between Malindi and Lamu, resulting in the deaths of seven people, including four police officers.
The attacks have left 5,574 people living as displaced persons. Most of the displaced people are those who are unable to flee to safer areas outside Lamu County.
Due to the abrupt manner in which the majority of those displaced fled their homes, those affected lack basic essential items. An assessment team of ACT Alliance members in Kenya identified the following gaps: mosquito nets, clothing and beddings, water treatment tablets, water jerry cans (containers), soap and shelter frames.
RESPONSE:
CWS, as a member of the ACT Alliance Kenya Forum, is responding along with other ACT Alliance members. The CWS response focuses on work in the settlement towns of Mpeketoni, Kitale Mavuno and Kipini, all in Lamu County.
CWS work is focusing on psychosocial support and trauma healing, as well as the distribution of the needed non-food items.
The trauma healing seminars will be designed to allow participants to develop an appreciation of human resilience and acquire more coping mechanisms by gaining a broader knowledge and deeper understanding about the nature and dynamics of psychosocial trauma, and healing and reconciliation, given the various forms of attacks that affected individuals and families in Lamu.
The non-food items part of the appeal will be implemented by two CWS partners, the Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya and the Full Gospel Church of Kenya. The two partners have substantial presence in Lamu and were among the churches that lost members in the attacks.
Finally, CWS work will focus on enhancing the disaster management capacity of local communities through training and equipping community volunteers with skills on emergency preparedness, facilitation of community reconciliation dialogues and psychosocial counseling.
BUDGET:
$346,679, which includes $289,651 in direct costs, including costs of non-food items and trauma healing seminars.
TOTAL: $346,679.
HOW TO HELP:
Contributions may be made online or sent by mail to: Church World Service, Attn.: Kenya-Lamu Humanitarian Recovery, APPEAL CODE: #642-Q, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.