Members of Shinshicho Kale Heywet Church at prayer. Picture: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund
They come driven to distraction by hunger.
Hundreds of Ethiopian men, women and children consumed by a desire for food turn up every Sunday morning at the compound of the Kale Heywet Church in Shinshicho, in Kacha Bira District, south of Addis Ababa.
There’s no food there, just the generosity of the congregation who give what money they can.
Church chairman Tamre Fitamo explained that people are turning to them because government welfare assistance, in the form of the safety net scheme, is very limited in the town which has a population of 18,000.
And they know the church has a track-record of social outreach as it runs a school, an income generation scheme and helps people living with HIV.
`People come to the church in large numbers seeking help,’ said Mr Fitamo. `This morning our compound was full with people begging so members gave money out of their own pockets and the church gave assistance too. It happens every Sunday.
`People are seriously ill. They might get a few things from the government but there’s no continual support.
`Job opportunities are absent because of the drought. People can’t earn enough to feed themselves.
`There’s more begging taking place; parents and children go into local restaurants begging for food. That’s a new phenomenon we’ve not had in the past.’
Shinshicho Kale Heywet Church members have responded to the needs of the hungry in their community. Picture: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund
Like many Ethiopians, Mr Fitamo reckons this latest food crisis ranks alongside the 1984 famine.
He tells of the short season rains due earlier in the year failing with catastrophic effect on staple crops: `This year the rains didn’t come till June and there was no sweet potato crop. Agricultural activity has been totally frozen.’
And that’s very bad news for a country where the vast majority of the population rely on subsistence farming to survive.
His church, which has more than 4,000 members, is doing the best it can to help people struggling to keep their heads above water in a sea of suffering.
All told, members have donated 25,000 birr (£1,250) to the food cause and this is enabling the church to support 103 households.
`There’s no discrimination,’ said Mr Fitamo. `It’s help for those who are in a bad condition within the community.’
Spiritual help is not overlooked: `The church is praying as a whole about the situation and people are coming and asking to be prayed for. The church is also going from house-to-house and praying with people to give them support.’
Not that the church membership is immune from hunger. The chairman estimates maybe just a third of members would have a decent daily meal.
Church leader Tamre Fitamo, pictured right, at a meeting of elders. Picture: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund
He added. `We would like the church to pray for this community and that God will intervene to remove this situation, that people will be rescued from this.’
This is just one example of a local Kale Heywet church responding to the food crisis engulfing Ethiopia.
In Angatcha District, three hours south of the capital Addis Ababa, the Kale Heywet Church is working to ensure that food aid will be targeted at families with severely malnourished children.
Family members will receive supplementary and general food rations to improve and sustain their nutrition levels. Up to 600 families could benefit from this.
Another 5,000 Angatcha households will receive seeds to plant new crops ready for harvest later in the year.
Similar plans are being drawn up for further south in Kindo Koyisha, Wolaitta Zone; west in Meta Robi, West Shoa Zone and north in Kewet, North Shewa Zone.
Bereket Tassew of the Wolaitta Kale Heywet Church. Picture: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund
Across the country, Tearfund is working with several large churches besides the Kale Heywet Church. They include: the Wolaitta Kale Heywet Church, the Meserete Kristos Church and the Full Gospel Believers’ Church.
The 850,000-member strong Wolaitta Kale Heywet Church (WKHC), is running food-for-work schemes to help 15,000 people living in Kindo Koyisha district, Wolaitta Zone in southern Ethiopia.
It's no stranger to relief and development activity as it started this work in response to the 1984 famine.
Bereket Tassew, development director of the WKHC, summed up the advantage the church has in responding: `We have been here for many years. We’re the local church and we’re very visible. We are accepted in the community.’