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LETTER: Langley can help lessen the severity of famine’s impacts

Local peace advocate notes that federal government will match donations to relief effort
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Dear Editor,

My son saved a young lady’s life a couple of weeks ago. He prevented her from having a horrific driving accident. His happiness clearly was very great, that he could assist another person in such a manner. Nothing compares to the feeling of having saved a life.

We did not have an opportunity to save the more than 50 migrants who died when trafficked north to the USA in a deadly hot, locked truck in late June. Nor did we have any chance of preventing the deaths of the Uvalde school children and teachers, 21 in all, who were executed by a teen. Nor the 10 shoppers executed in Buffalo.

But the government of Canada has made it possible to save a great many lives this summer. In the region of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, a population greater than half of Canada’s is on the brink of starvation and many have already died.

Twelve Canadian Charities called the Humanitarian Coalition and our government have arranged that donations by Canadians up to a total of $5 million, will be matched dollar for dollar if donated before the 18th of July. See https://www.humanitariancoalition.ca/ for details.

Successive droughts, climate change, conflict and the great increase in the cost of food have contributed to this situation.

It does not take much online effort to find photos and stories of some of these persons whose lives are in danger​. They are not ‘hopeless cases’ or throwaway lives. They are as beautiful as any on earth, and if they had a fraction of the assistance that we received, most could prosper.

Not one of us has been successful without the assistance of many others.

Brendan Martin, Brookswood

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• READ MORE: Commonwealth membership ranges from wealthiest to poorest nations

• READ MORE: African leaders meet about growing crises

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