www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, November 3, 2011 · 8 Staving off malnutrition in the middle of drought Continued from page 7 "Studies have been done that say if you cut back on nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child's life it can have a severe impact on their mental and physical development," he said. "If a child's mental/physical development gets cut back than their future earning capacity gets cut back as well...malnutrition really can have a devastating impact on a child's life." Lukowski visited additional CCFC food distribution sites in Kenya and Ethiopia where he heard many stories of what people struggled to do to survive the drought and famine. With no food, one father said he walked 40 kilometres to reach the home of a cousin so he could bring back some potatoes to his family. Lukowski said this father's experience really emphasized the gulf that exists between life in a place like Oakville and life for those in the Horn of Africa. An Oakville resident need only drive to a nearby grocery store for food while the man Lukowski met must walk 80 kilometres to provide his family with enough food PHOTOS BY PHILIP MAHER PUTTING FOOD ON THE TABLE: The Horn of Africa region is facing one of the worst droughts in more than 60 years. The well is literally dry, left. At right, Mark Lukowski, Chief Executive Officer of Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC), and an Oakville resident, surveys a feeding program in the Horn of Africa, where his organization is funding aid work. For information on the charity's work, visit www.ccfcanada.ca. just to get them through the day. Other encounters the local resident had at these food distribution sites were more positive with people telling stories of how CCFC has affected their lives. "I met a couple families in Ethiopia and one of the things they said to me was, `Before we got food distribution we (the parents) would eat once a day and the children would eat twice a day. Because this food distribution is here now all of f us eat three times a day,'" said Lukowski. He said he felt a mixture of f emotions when the time came to return to Canada. Happiness that help was being delivered was mixed with sorrow that there is so much more work to be done. "We still need to continue to encourage Canadians to help us because by no means is this shortage of water problem over," he said. To assist CCFC's projects in the Horn of Africa, visit www.ccfcanada.ca. David Lea can be reached at DLea@oakvillebeaver.com or follow him on Twitter at @DavidLea6. Oakville's New State-of-the-Art Hearing Clinic Call us today to book an appointment or visit us online at www.pureaudiology.ca Friday, Nov. 4th (10am - 4pm) Saturday, Nov. 5th (10am - 2pm) Meet & greet with Annick & Pascale-Annie, get all your questions answered about hearing loss & hearing aids. OPEN HOUSE O O ak ak W Pa LtoR: Pascale-Annie Roy M.Sc.S., Reg CASLPO Audiologist Annick Ménard M.Sc.S., Au.D, Reg CASLPO Doctor of Audiology TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR ANNIVERSARY SPECIALS $100 Swim / Sleep / Noise Plugs $300 OFF a Pair of Hearing Aids $50 per Carton of Batteries (60 cells) Refreshments will be served! N eS V isit o ou ur ne ew o of ffi fic ce Visit our new office ac acr ro os ss f rom Winne Winners rs across from Tr a E IN S e D r fa ER S/ H om en da s un al k rk D r B lv d Po s tr id g R d D W lg Da t ar le b ro o