An estimated one billion people around the world live in slum communities. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, those communities were already facing extraordinary hardship. But as coronavirus began to take hold, restrictions on movement and work meant that millions of families have been unable to buy food. Globally, the number of people who are food insecure is projected to almost double, from 135 million people at the start of 2020, to a staggering 265 million by the end of the year.

Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya is home to 250,000 people. It is overcrowded and underserviced. Most families living here are packed into windowless one room shacks, and share the same toilet with as many as 150 other people. The majority of households rely on casual labour to pay for rent, food and other essentials. But when the coronavirus pandemic reached Kibera, social distancing restrictions meant that much of this work dried up overnight.

Sadly, Margret and Charlyne’s story is not unique. Casual labour is the only source of income for most families here in Kibera, and in slums around the world. Without a daily wage, most families can’t buy food. For many in slum communities, the threat of hunger has become greater than the threat of coronavirus. The pandemic has plunged families like Margret and Charlyne’s into a situation they can’t escape from. But with your help this Christmas, there is a way out – and there is hope.

You can help families around the world to survive the unfolding hunger pandemic. A donation from you today could supply the therapeutic food needed to help save the life of a child like Charlyne, and provide parents like Margret with vital cash transfers, so they can buy the food that their families need to survive.