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Reaching out to widows

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Going Against the Grain:

Date published: 8/5/2007

By kathleen lewis

for the free lance-star

In the famine-prone West African country of the Republic of Niger, the same culture that allows a man five wives also dictates that the last to receive food are his widows and orphans.

But recently, a team from Salem Baptist Church in Caroline County reversed the cultural norm.

"We focused on the needs of the widows and orphans," said Chuck Womble of Sparta who organized the trip.

The group distributed 45,000 pounds of grain.

They also donated spaghetti and milk to Niamey National Hospital in Niger where children afflicted with bone deformities are awaiting surgery. Patients rarely get enough food to eat while they are hospitalized unless their families bring it, explained Ellen Womble, who accompanied her husband on the mission trip. The children's affliction has been tied to the village's contaminated water that their mothers drank during pregnancy, she explained.

This was the second time that a group from the church distributed food in the West African country. In 2005, Chuck Womble responded to the news reports of famine in Niger by asking area farmers to donate grain and then organizing a distribution team to deliver the food.

In October 2005, the team gave away 160,000 pounds of Virginia-grown grain donated by area farmers. Convoy of Hope, a nonprofit transportation organization, supplied and shipped the containers that held the grain free of charge. Last year, 90,000 pounds of donated grain was shipped.

This year, with loading and shipping costs at $12,500 per container, the team asked instead for donations to buy the grain once they got to Niger. Donations came from community and church members and farmers from Caroline, Hanover and Essex counties who gave from the profits they made on grain sales.

"U.S. farmers have a heart for feeding people," said Kevin James, pastor of Salem Baptist Church.

In 2005, villages in Niger had no food because of widespread drought and locust infestation that hit during the growing season. This year some areas in Niger experienced drought, but the conditions were not as grave as they were two years ago.

But widows and orphans are still the most vulnerable when food is scarce.

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Date published: 8/5/2007