Because of the large drought, Kenya, Somalia and Southern Ethiopia are suffering from a terrible famine.

We want to use our helicopter in Awassa (Ethopia) to provide aid. Flights are already planned for food distribution.

Donations for the famine can be sent to the following bank: 

Helimission New-York, P.O. Box 538, Lima, NY 14485, USA         

Account No: 1103232362

Canandaigua National Bank
72 South Main Street
Canandaigua, New York, USA

Important: Please note "Famine Africa"



Our Pilot from New Zealand reports:

It’s been an interesting and full on week. Started last Sunday afternoon when we got a call for a medevac flight from Dolo Ado. A UN / WFP guy  was sick with suspected meningitis, but the airstrip was unuseable because of so much heavy rain and the roads were un passable because several of the rivers were in flood. 

One month ago, everything in the area was toast brown, it hadn't rained in the area for 3 years, and now everything is green.

1. November 2011: We are very pleased that an additional Pilot from New Zealand has come to assist with the extra flights.  

Rain!

It is raining on the horn of Africa!! We were delighted to hear the news. Our pilot there has been asked to fly more aid flights because the ground has become so muddy that airplanes cannot land! 

The work continues. We are flying in a further 4 tons of corn to the Borana.

The refugee camp in Dolo Ado is beginning to fill up again. More refugees are arriving from Somalia. The humanitarian aid groups are expecting a further 50'000 refugees and are building a 5th camp to accomodate them. (25.10.2011) 

Our Pilot reports:

The drought in Southern Ethiopia is making life very difficult for the people there. In the South, many animals have already died and the people do not have much left to eat. We distributed 10 tons of corn in the Borana tribe with the American organisation "Bread of Life International." We visted 5 villages in total. The last village (Saba) was only reachable with the helicopter, as the nearest street is approx. 8 hours foot march away. In 2 of the villages the people that we met were desperate; one of them was Saba, and the other is called Romso. The village elders there invited us to a meeting. They informed us that in the last 3 months, 100 cows have died and now they have hardly anything left to eat. I saw myself how an emaciated cow was eating the dried grass from the roof of a house. In some parts of Borana, it has not rained for over a year. This means that the last harvest has been used up and the people now have nothing left to eat. It is a good time to provide aid, as this is just the start of a hunger crisis. If it does not rain, the people there will need much more aid. We will continue to support the people who are affected, and will offer our helicopter transport to other humanitarian organisations in the drought area. (24.08.2011)

In Dolo Odo there is an old refugee camp with 30,000 people which has been there for approx. 2 years. In addition, 2 new refugee camps have come into being, each also has 30,000 people. On top of this there is a transit camp with another 20,000 refugees - mainly women and children. Many of the children are ill. In this camp there are many graves.

Every day more refugees are arriving.

Helimission flew medical and other specialized personnel to the camps in Dolo Odo where the approx. 110,000 refugees (mainly from Somalia) are waiting for aid. We flew for "humedica" and "Water is Life International." (19/07/2011)

Helimission is helping those who are starving locally

Our approach is to help the 4.5 million Ethiopians who are affected by the famine so that they do not need to become refugees.

In Southern Ethiopia there are approx. 1 million Borana who live in areas which are very difficult to reach. They have also been affected by the famine. We have a good relationship with the "Borana King". This is why we are involved in providing aid to this tribe. In the 3rd week of August we will help Rick Tunis from "Bread of Life International" to distribute 10 tons of corn to the Borana. (11/08/2011).