ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — At the request of the Ethiopian government, the Church has joined an international relief effort to aid this east African nation of 67 million people where scarce rains have placed 11 million people at risk of malnutrition and starvation. In response, a Church-chartered cargo plane landed here March 12 containing an emergency shipment of 80,000 pounds of Atmit, an Ethiopian porridge mix based on a centuries-old recipe. It was the second of three shipments within a month.
This initial shipment was produced a week earlier in Salt Lake City at the Church's Welfare Square, according to a press release from the Church's Public Affairs Department.
An additional 200 tons of Atmit is in production at Welfare Square and will be shipped to Ethiopia in ocean-bound containers. The porridge is of benefit to malnourished young children and the elderly who cannot digest whole grains and foods made with coarse flour.
To recover, their stressed and tender digestive systems require frequent feedings of easily digestible food in small amounts. Atmit, a bland but nutritious mixture of oat flour, powdered milk, sugar, salt and supplemental vitamins and minerals that is prepared with water and cooking oil, is a proven resource for supplemental feeding of severely malnourished children.
Some experts believe this could be the worst hunger crisis in the history of this nation where agriculture constitutes 80 percent of the total economy. Before the next harvest, that number at risk for starvation could rise to 14 million. Many observers point out that the current drought and ensuing localized famine conditions are worse than the well-known 1984-1985 crisis in Ethiopia when a global outpouring of aid helped relieve suffering. Heartbreaking media images of emaciated children motivated governments, relief agencies and individuals to give whatever they could.
U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-Va., visited Ethiopia in early January of this year. Rep. Wolf reported that he didn't think anything could compare with what he witnessed in 1984 as a member of a relief team until he saw what confronted him when he returned to Ethiopia in 2003. "This is a world crisis that deserves a compassionate global response," he said.
In its emergency response work, the Church's humanitarian service group always evaluates and assesses needs with local officials to ensure that the aid provided will be put to good use, according to Welfare Services. Humanitarian service representatives learned during their assessment visit that Atmit was used successfully during the 1984-1985 famine in Ethiopia. Upon their return, they worked with Brigham Young University dieticians and operations managers at Welfare Square to formulate and produce the Atmit mixture that arrived March 12.
Working with Project Mercy, a nongovernmental relief agency with long experience in Ethiopia, Church representatives distributed the first shipment of Atmit to rural villages March 14-15. Distribution of other shipments continues. Doctors from Project Mercy will oversee supplemental feeding programs and monitor progress in Yetebon and nearby communities in south central Ethiopia. The Church is also contracting with an Ethiopian supplier to produce 3,000 metric tons of Unimix, a corn-soya mixture with added sugar, salt and vitamins. Distribution of the Church-donated Unimix is already underway in cooperation with both Project Mercy and Catholic Relief Services, the overseas relief and development agency of the United States Catholic Conference.
Since 1985, the Church has mounted more than 144 major disaster relief projects worldwide. Overall humanitarian assistance rendered since 1985 totals more than $89 million in cash donations and more than $456 million in material assistance.
