Ghana Schoolboy to Raise $13M for Somalia Famine
As the news of the catastrophic famine in Somalia has been spreading across the world, a young and inspiring boy in the West African nation of Ghana has been compelled to take the situation into his own hands and do whatever he can to help his continental neighbors.
Andrew Andasi has launched a campaign to raise funds for those suffering from the famine in the drought-stricken Somalia. He is only 11-years-old and is acting out of compassion for the unknown men, women, and children that he has seen on his television screen.
Andasi met with World Food Programme organizers and in his native Ghana to discuss his fundraising campaign pledging to raise $13 million during his eight-week summer vacation.
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The campaign is entitled, “Save Somali Children from Hunger,” and the boy has been working tirelessly since the campaign began on August 1st, printing flyers and stickers and walking through the streets of Accra, Ghana’s capital, to collect donations from private individuals and companies.
The donations go into a small bank account that Andasi has set up for the purpose of sending the money to Somalia.
Andasi told the BBC, “I’m very, very sure I can raise it in just one month.”
The young and inspiring schoolboy has thus far has raised more than $6,500 to send to victims of the famine.
The boy’s efforts are motivating but also extremely timely as an estimated 600,000 children are on the brink of starvation and the U.S. has estimated that in the 3 months since the drought began, 29,000 children have already died in the Somalia famine that is also known as the "Children's Famine."
The total number of Somalis at risk for starvation stands at an astounding 3.7 million people.
The international community has been scrambling to raise funds for the famine after receiving much condemnation from critics for not adequately preparing for a famine that was predicted over a year ago.
It seems as though Andasi in all his childhood simplicity grasps the situation in Somalia better than any world leader or institution has thus far as has been quoted by the Associated Press saying, “This is a moment that mankind can touch lives. There is no point for others to have so much to eat while others have nothing to eat. It is not right.”
