(click on the image to expand the infographic)

A food crisis is now gripping the Sahel region of West Africa. A host of factors–including erratic rainfall, meager harvests, and the lingering effects of an earlier food crisis in 2010–have combined to put more than 18 million people at risk of hunger. For the latest information about who’s affected and where, Oxfam’s response, and how you can help, check out our new infographic above. Then share it with others and help us raise awareness about a crisis that’s not making headlines.

Oxfam is aiming to help 1.2 million people across seven countries with programs that include cash transfers and cash-for-work initiatives, veterinary care for the livestock on which many families depend, and access to clean water and sanitation. We are also campaigning to change the root causes of this crisis. Find out how you can support our efforts.

By participating in emergency preparedness and response, says Doris Escobar (left), “women have put themselves in the service of their communities and have been recognized for that.” Photo by René Figueroa/Oxfam America

“Many women have become more respected leaders as a result of their work on disasters,” said Doris Escobar, my guide on a recent trip to El Salvador.

As we made our way from a flood-affected village in the western department of Ahuachapán to another across the country in San Miguel, Doris told me the story of how a team of first responders made a difference when an extraordinary storm struck El Salvador in October 2011. (Read about the team’s response to the flood emergency.)

The team was founded four years ago by Oxfam and our Salvadoran partners, and it is coordinated by Escobar herself. It began as a core group of dedicated volunteers—more than half of them women—interested in becoming experts in emergency WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene promotion) and willing to be deployed anywhere in the country at a moment’s notice. More recently, the group has been training up new members from 150 communities around the country to ensure that the people who are living in vulnerable areas have the know-how to protect the health and safety of their neighbors.

 Helping women take leadership has been a priority from day one.

“Self-esteem is so low in women in the communities,” said Escobar. Many, she said, “feel they can’t do anything except work in the kitchen, prepare food, care for children, and clean.”

Community WASH team member Virginia Corado leads a demonstration for children in safe hand-washing practices. During the heavy floods of October of 2011, it was Corado’s vigilance and timely phone call that triggered the WASH team’s emergency response across the country. Photo by René Figueroa/Oxfam America

But the women who have joined the WASH team are learning to do everything from testing water quality to installing huge tanks to tackling the mosquito infestations that often accompany floods.

In the fumigation campaign in October, she said, “it was great to see the looks of satisfaction on their faces when they realized they could use those big machines.”

And, she told me, the team members’ new-found skills are beginning to translate into much-needed income. “It’s nice to see that there are many women becoming plumbers for the community-based water system. They are earning money for this.”

This isn’t the first time I’ve had a chance to see how disasters—though they often cause profound suffering and loss—can be catalysts for positive change for women.

“It has been a lot of work,” said Escobar, “but we are teaching that women are capable of doing everything that men can. I tell many women, ‘We don’t have to follow behind a man. We can walk in front of one.’”

Please share this with others and contribute to our West Africa Food Crisis Fund. Oxfam is putting in place programs to help farmers in Kedougou and other areas of West Africa with seeds and other agricultural support, so they can plant this spring. We are also planning work that will help keep their drinking water clean and safe, and to provide food or short-term work for cash wages, so farmers will have food over the summer while they work their fields. With your help, we can expand this work to include as many people as possible and head off a major disaster.

Baobab trees

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Baobab trees near the road east from Dakar to Kedougou (700 kilometers): During the dry season it is hard to imagine growing anything in the semi-arid, Sahelian climate in Senegal. Photo by Brett Eloff/Oxfam America.

Oxfam is aiming to help 1.2 million people across seven countries with programs that include cash transfers and cash-for-work initiatives, veterinary care for the livestock on which many families depend, and access to clean water and sanitation. We are also campaigning to change the root causes of this crisis. Find out how you can support our efforts.

Oxfam contributed footage to “One Day on Earth” film. We asked our affiliates and partners working in 99 countries across the world to reflect on the specific issues of health and education — and why these are fundamental rights — and then to seek out images and interviews on the subject.

Watch the trailer for the film (it gave me goose bumps…the good kind) and then share with your friends.

One Day on Earth – Global Screening Trailer from One Day on Earth on Vimeo.

Here’s a sample Tweet to get you going:

Oxfam contributed to the unique @onedayonearth documentary (all filmed on 10/10/10). Attend free screening this Sunday! http://ow.ly/aq53H

Kassa Danfakha: “We need good quality seed, for rice, groundnuts, millet, and maize.” Photo by Brett Eloff/Oxfam America

Kassa Danfakha says usually one of his biggest concerns in the growing season is cows wandering on to his millet field and eating his plants. It’s a significant source of conflict in the community, but last year he had bigger worries.

“Last fall I got almost no harvest. There was not enough rain,” he says, sitting by his home in Bembou, in Senegal’s far eastern Kedougou region. “The first rains came and the seeds we planted started to grow, but then the rain was very irregular. At one point the rain stopped and the plants died.”

“Some more rain came later but we had no more seeds to plant.”

Danfakha is 58, has seven children, and also grows maize (corn), groundnuts, rice, and a local grain called fonio. Last year his entire maize crop was wiped out. He harvested less than half the normal yield of the others. Normally he will grow between eight and 10 (50-kilo) bags of groundnuts, but last year he got only three. He’s saving one bag so he has some seed to plant when the rains come, hopefully next month.

Lean times

I’m in Senegal now and just spent three days in Kedougou talking with farmers, most of whom are in a situation similar to Danfakha. Cherif Sow, who works for the Association for Action and the Development of Kedougou (known as AKAD, one of Oxfam’s partners here), has also been talking with farmers across this forgotten, distant corner of Senegal. “They say what they have harvested is feeding them for two, or a maximum of three months,” he reports, sitting in front of his office in Kedougou. “In recent years, the harvest would last them for seven months.”

This means families that harvest in November can normally cover their food needs until June when they can plant again. Even in a good year, many of them struggle to find food until the next harvest. This lean time of year can be a real test, as the farmers work hard in their fields, many without the benefit of a donkey or cow to pull a plow.

But when the lean times start four months earlier than normal, it can be a real catastrophe.

Danfakha ‘s youngest children are in school, where the government provides lunch every day. He feeds them dinner from his dwindling supply of food. We look in his grenier, a round structure with a thatched roof near an absolutely massive baobab tree: He has two bags of rice, one of which he is saving to plant. On one side there is a pile of groundnuts, his seed.  On the left he points out his last bag of millet, which is about one third full. It might feed his family for a few more weeks.  “Most years there is not even enough room to stand in here,” Danfakha says, it is usually so full of sacks of produce. Now, there’s enough room in the middle for three of us to stand and talk.

Kassa Danfakha in his grenier. Photo by Brett Eloff/Oxfam America.

Farmers need seed

Danfakha is getting by with money sent by his 27-year-old son who is panning for gold, a common activity here during the dry season. But he’s not sure he has enough money to get the seeds, fertilizer, and other inputs he needs to plant if and when the rains come.

“We need good quality seed, for rice, groundnuts, millet, and maize,” Danfakha says.

The food crisis in Senegal is serious, but could get a lot worse if farmers don’t have the resources they need to plant this year. If there is rain – which is a big if– they need to be in a position to recover from the crop failure in 2011. If not, what is now a food shortage could turn in to something far worse.

The good news is that there is a new government in Senegal and the relevant ministers are publicly acknowledging the situation and the need to respond. Aid organizations like Oxfam are mobilizing resources to assist farmers across Senegal. Isaac Massaga, who is in charge of Oxfam’s response in Senegal, says timely help for these farmers will make a huge difference. “We need to ensure farmers have what they need to plant, and feed their families while they grow their crops this year.” He is planning a program with several different organizations in Kedougou and  Kolda, and intends to assist 63,000 people.

Oxfam would like assist more people, if we can raise the money. We’d rather not wait until a food shortage turns in to something far worse over the summer.

Danfakha shows us his millet field. At the end of the dry season the earth is hard and gravelly, and a sort of steely dark grey in color. It must be incredibly difficult to grow anything out of this hard, stony soil, but Danfakha is used to working here. He says he is worried, but still walks purposefully around the perimeter of his field, projecting an air of confidence for his visitors. In the sky there is a thick layer of hazy clouds, but it does not look like rain.

Addendum 25 April

When I got back to US, I heard some good news: It rained in Kedougou on Sunday night/Monday morning. Is this an indication of better rains for the impending growing season? I hope so.

My colleagues here at Oxfam also reminded me about the video we launched last month: “Baaba Maal speaks out on the Sahel crisis.” Please have a look and check out Baaba Maal’s music, he is a modern manifestation of the ancient West African oral tradition of griot singers. His voice is amazing and we are grateful he is helping us raise awareness of the situation in the Sahel.

Oxfam is aiming to help 1.2 million people across seven countries with programs that include cash transfers and cash-for-work initiatives, veterinary care for the livestock on which many families depend, and access to clean water and sanitation. We are also campaigning to change the root causes of this crisis. Find out how you can support our efforts.

A girl uses one of the chlroine dispensers Oxfam installed in Haiti. Photo by Elizabeth Stevens/Oxfam

When I look at pictures of Haiti’s countryside, I’m always struck by how beautiful much of the landscape is, particularly in the rice-growing region along the Artibonite River. But then I think about the grim underside of that beauty—the cholera that can so easily course through rivers like the Artibonite, spreading sickness and death.

The outbreak that started 10 months after a devastating earthquake in 2010 has now claimed more than 7,000 lives and sickened more than half a million people—as if Haiti needed any more trouble heaped on its citizens. The cholera epidemic is reportedly the largest in modern history, and it’s been in the news a lot lately. The New York Times ran a lengthy story early this month and yesterday, NPR filed its own report on the urgent health problem.

The heart of the trouble is the almost complete lack of functioning water and sanitation systems across the country. Many people are pretty much on their own when it comes to providing water for their families: They lug it home from wherever they can find it, and in the rural areas that’s often streams and rivers. Whether it’s fit for drinking—and cholera-free—can be hard for families to determine.

That’s why in the area around Petite Riviere de Nippes, as NPR reported, people are excited about a simple solution Oxfam has been working on: the installation of chlorine dispensers near where they collect their water. The devices are designed to squirt just enough chlorine to purify a five-gallon jug of water. Oxfam is installing about 90 of the dispensers. And the affordability of the chlorine could be the key that makes this solution last, as Oxfam’s Kenny Rae points out in the piece.

“The cost of chlorine is very, very low,” he said. “A $100 tub will cover all these dispensers for six months.”

That’s a sliver of good news for rural Haitians facing a new rainy season and the spike in cholera cases that could trigger.

Elizabeth Rojas, health and nutrition program coordinator for the community organization El Mantaro Revive. "“We are concerned about children’s health in La Oroya. Many have just started to recover from high levels of lead in their blood, and what happens now will be critical for them. Always, the most vulnerable population is the poorest.” Photo: Percy Ramirez/Oxfam America

Women like Elizabeth Rojas, above, are at the heart of an effort to defend public health and the environment in La Oroya, Peru, a city that’s been called one of the most polluted places on earth. While legislators and CEOs debate whether or not to reopen the Doe Run Peru lead smelter in La Oroya, these women continue their efforts to protect the community—even when it means putting their own safety at risk. Add your support by signing the petition at http://bit.ly/HEVNZQ.

Hear more from La Oroya’s women leaders on Flickr, and help raise awareness by watching and sharing the bilingual slideshow below. (Expand the slideshow and select “show info,” upper right, to read their testimonials in English and Spanish.)

Every morning Yenee leaves her two children in the care of her sister and ventures off to collect water for her family. After walking for two hours she arrives at the spring–the only source of water for miles around.

She is not alone. In Laga Hidha, a remote district in southeast Ethiopia which hasn’t seen rain for over a year, collecting water for drinking, cooking and bathing can be an all day affair–every day. At mid-morning at the spring there can sometimes be more than 100 women, some of whom have walked for more than seven miles. She will wait patiently in line for another two hours to fill her  jerrycans. She then returns home, carrying 30 liters (66 pounds weight) of water on her back.

In some parts of Ethiopia, women like Yenee walk several miles to collect water for their families and livestock. Photo by Kenny Rae / Oxfam America.

It wasn’t always like this. Nine years ago a well equipped with a hand pump  was installed in her village which provided water for all. Twice yearly rains would replenish the open wells and ponds that provided water for livestock, for bathing and  for laundering clothes.

The hand pump has been broken for over a year, and a promise to replace it by an aid agency has yet to be fulfilled. The prolonged drought has caused the open wells and ponds to dry up, and the cattle and goats that benefited from them have been sold off or have perished. Where there was once pasture, there in now only dust. Those determined to hold on to a couple of animals for milk must venture further and further from home to find food for their animals.

In Hidha Hunda village, an elder told us that one of the few remaining cows had, the day before been taken in search of food  and water and, miles away, had collapsed from hunger. Its owner left it where it lay and returned home. In every village we visited here, and in the neighboring district of Sawena we learned of the hardships that people are dealing with.

In  Gale  village all the  livestock has been sold. Families were unable to  keep one or two animals for milk as the surrounding pasture is long depleted. No crops have been cultivated for over a year. Collecting honey used to provide additional income for the villagers but, without water and flowers, the bees are gone.

While the first rains will be welcomed, there is a real concern in these communities that when even when it arrives, their problems will not be over. As an old man told us “Even if the rain comes now there is no pasture left to water.”

In the Bale zone of Ethiopia, herders say their cows are collapsing in hunger. Photo by Kenny Rae / Oxfam America.

With their animals gone and with their grain stores  consumed,  Oxfam is supporting 1,600 families in Sawena and Laga Hidha with emergency cash and food distributions. For a few days per month, those that are physically able, undertake work such as rehabilitating traditional wells and ponds in preparation for when the rains finally arrive, hopefully to provide enough water to meet needs for a sustained period. To ease the burden of collecting water in the short term, Oxfam is rehabilitating water systems including replacing broken pumps to reduce the distances traveled.

Help the people affected by this crisis in East Africa. Donate now.

This photo at the Petionville golf camp was taken 10 months after the earthquake in Haiti. Photo by Chris Hufstader / Oxfam America.

Located at the end of a winding road in the posh part of town, past the home of the US Ambassador to Haiti and the tennis courts, sits a golf course. It is the site of a make-shift camp plastered with the big letters naming the large aid agencies that have provided assistance here since the earthquake.

It has also been the home of approximately 16,000 men, women, and children since January 2010 when the quake decimated the already fragile and tenuous lives they once led.

Romelus Raynald, the coordinator of water, sanitation, and hygiene promotion activities at the camp, noted: “The people come to my office and they tell me their stories. They want work, they want food, and they want their kids to go to school.”

Raynald is an impressive, soft-spoken man whose face is an open book of sadness and details about the camp and its residents. He says that the camp population has fallen from about 9,000 families to roughly 4,500 families. “Many have returned to their homes, others have found alternative homes and temporary shelters.”

“But those who are left behind truly have no place to go. “There has not been a lot offered by anyone to help. It is really Sean who has helped us.”

Sean is Sean Penn, and the camp at the golf course is affectionately referred to as “Sean Penn’s camp” since the actor took up residence there after the earthquake until 2011. A Haitian relief organization co-founded by Penn, JP/HRO, funds the teachers and education for students at the ironically named L’ecole D’Espoir primary school (School of Hope) for children at the camp. The number of children in the camp far exceeds the available 500 slots, though, and there is no school for high school aged students whatsoever.

Celebrity interest can no doubt shine a spotlight on humanitarian tragedies around the world. In fact, at Oxfam we work with Celebrity Ambassadors who donate their time and notoriety to help us fundraise during humanitarian disasters or lobby for changes in laws and policies that affect poor people around the world.

But while the attention that celebrities bring is valuable, it takes more than public attention to bring about structural and sustainable public policy changes, such as the much needed and urgent housing policy in Haiti. The international community, which includes the United Nations, NGOs and bilateral organizations, and the government of Haiti must face–with transparency– the root causes of Haiti’s land ownership issues, which are at the core of Haiti’s housing inequalities. The question of land and tenure in Haiti is as old as the republic itself, and ever since its founding, Haitians have struggled against entrenched interests, an antiquated land system, and corruption.

In the meantime, we must all remember that camp residents such as those in Port-au-Prince are human beings who have reorganized their lives as best they could while in such precarious circumstances. At the golf course camp, for instance, there is a water committee staffed by Haitians, and coached by Oxfam, who are responsible for managing the water kiosks that sell water, to ensure that the structures that allow the water to flow are in good working order, and that there is minimal waste. There is a women’s committee to sensitize camp residents about violence against women, and to ensure that residents know that violence will not be tolerated and that women know they have options. And there is the school.

However, a clean, well-managed camp complete with water kiosks, a women’s committee, and a school should not be the model for housing in Haiti. We know that this is not an acceptable quality of life.

And if you hear that the argument in favor of the camp is that it is better than where the residents lived before, then the international community must pack up, admit defeat, and go home. At least our departure would bring an end to the distorted economy exacerbated by our very presence in Haiti.

As we walked away from the camp, Romelus thanked me for visiting with a smile and asked me to share the message about the people in the camp. I couldn’t help but think he’d been making that same plea over and over again during the past two years, every time someone new came through.

La Oroya, Peru, in 2006, when the Doe Run Peru lead smelter was operating in the center of town. Photo: Flor Ruiz / Oxfam America

“Communication is power,” said Rosa Amaro. “I would like people around the world to know what’s going on in my town, La Oroya … and then our authorities here in Peru can respond to the problems.”

Amaro told me this when I spoke with her in Boston last fall. But I didn’t really understand what the Oxfam partner and community leader meant until I visited Peru last week, during a crucial moment in her and other residents’ effort to protect their community. For ten years, they’ve been calling on the Doe Run Peru Corporation (part of the American-owned Renco Group) to clean up operations at its giant lead smelter in the heart of their town. Toxic chemicals from the smelter have affected La Oroya’s air, water, and soil, and contributed to health problems like elevated blood lead levels in local children.

Now, Peruvian authorities are debating whether or not to extend the deadline for Doe Run Peru to improve its environmental standards in La Oroya. If they do, the smelter—which has been closed for the last two years—could reopen as early as May, with no guarantees of a cleaner operation.

Many of the activists from La Oroya have a child or other family member whose health has been affected by lead poisoning. Most are women. Organized into grassroots networks, they help one another. And while they don’t have the money or influence of a major corporation, they do have the ability to reach others and mobilize them to join the cause.

Supporters decorate a sign at an interfaith vigil for La Oroya in Lima, Peru, on World Water Day. The message reads: "La Oroya, a city where people can live with dignity." Photo: Percy Ramirez/Oxfam America

Working with Oxfam America’s partner organization CooperAcción, for example, some of these groups formed a coalition called La Oroya por un Cambio (La Oroya for change). The coalition uses Facebook, Twitter, a YouTube channel, and a blog to keep the public updated on their efforts. CooperAcción also work closely with journalists to make sure that news stories tell the families’ side of the story.

Recently, on World Water Day, religious leaders in both Peru and the US organized interfaith vigils to pray for the health and safety of La Oroya. At the vigil I attended in a Lima city park, about 70 people sat outside in the drizzling rain to hear Amaro and others speak; some brought handmade signs with messages like “La Oroya somos todos” (“La Oroya is all of us”).

Meanwhile, spokespeople for the movement have faced harassment and, more recently, anonymous death threats. An anti-coalition Facebook page features a prominent photo of Amaro with CooperAcción’s José de Echave and accuses the group of spreading false information.

Still, despite the opposition, de Echave said he believes they are succeeding in changing people’s minds. Several Congressional representatives from Junín, where La Oroya is located, have shifted their support from the company to the community. “Most people don’t hear about what happens in a small Andean community like La Oroya,” said de Echave. “We believe that making the case for the people will generate public support in their favor.”

No matter the outcome of the legal battle, I realize now, de Echave, Amaro, and others I met will continue to speak up for La Oroya—just as long as someone is there to listen.