Refugees queue for clean water in the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya Photo: Helle Kjaersgaard/Save the Children
Editorial
Ian Kirk-Smith reflects on the theme of Yearly Meeting Gathering
Refugees queue up for clean water in the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya. The Dadaab camps were originally built to fit 90,000 people. Today the number of refugees living there is around 370,000. In 2010 the three camps in Dadaab received around forty new child refugees a month. Now 800 are coming every day. Drought and famine have arrived again in Africa.
The poor and vunerable are victims of forces and environmental changes beyond their control. The yellow jerry cans the refugees use for water containers are provided by Save the Children. It is one of many organisations doing tremendous work in the region.
The theme of the Yearly Meeting Gathering in Canterbury is Growing in the Spirit: changing the way we live to sustain the world we live in. It is a very timely subject. We hope that Friends and visitors will enjoy a stimulating and inspiring week and also be prompted to reflect on the way we live our lives and the effect this may have on people elsewhere in the world.
