Severe Humanitarian Crisis Somalia drought: The fight for survival as famine looms

The tears tumbled down 11-year-old Dahir's hunger-hollowed cheeks."I just want to survive this," he said quietly. Seated beside the family's makeshift tent, on the dusty plain outside the city of Baidoa, his weary mother, Fatuma Omar, told him not to cry. "Your tears will not bring your brother back. Everything will be fine," she said.

 Fatuma's second son, 10-year-old Salat, died of starvation two weeks ago, shortly after the family reached Baidoa from their village, three days' walk away. His body is buried in the rocky earth a few meters from their new home - the grave already covered in litter and increasingly hard to spot as new arrivals set up camp around them.

"I cannot grieve for my son. There is no time. I need to find work and food to keep the others alive," Fatuma said, cradling her youngest daughter, nine-month-old Bille, and turning to look at six-year-old Mariam as she gave a rasping cough.

Young children are dying in growing numbers in Somalia amid the worst drought to hit the country in 40 years. Government officials say that an even greater catastrophe could sweep the country within days or weeks unless more help arrives.

Your donation will cover a wide variety of items:

Food:

Milk powder for children

Sugar

Rice

Semolina for porridge

Fruit

Flour for the foufou

Vegetable oil

Salt

Mineral water

Beans

Concentrated tomatoes

Chlorine (to make the local water safe for consumption)

Hygiene Products:

Laundry soap

Toilet paper rolls

Toilet soap

Toothpaste

Toothbrushes

Cloth nappies for babies

Women's hair bands

Gloves

Blankets

Water containers

Buckets

Washable nose plugs (protects against ash, and harmful gases from washing)

Water storage tanks

Clothing items in all sizes

Shoes

Products for kitchen:

Pots and pans

Plates

Cups

Knives

We are hoping to raise $250,000 to ensure every child has a healthy food and clean water is a good start. Please consider a gift of $50 because children in our Africa are going hungry. Click To Donate

Once our goal is reached, our plan is to immediately transfer the funds to Foundation Fix Africa. Foundation Fix Africa will then use 100 percent of the funds for all of the items mentioned above, plus medical supplies for the people. An accounting of all the monies will be closest recorded for accountability as we have always done.