How a Journey to Mali Changed the Way I Give to Charity
First, came the drought that destroyed their crops, sparking a hunger crisis in a country where already one in five children never reach their fifth birthday. Then, a military coup in Mali's capital, Bamako, ended 20 years of democracy. (..) The conflict has exacerbated an already desperate situation. "Many families literally have nothing to eat," says Malek Triki, West Africa spokesman for the UN World Food Programme. "Their only food is soup made from wild plants that are so bitter, the animals don't even eat them." And, just when it seemed that things couldn't get worse, cue a plague of locusts.