When God’s Children Go Hungry: A Cry to the Church

Originally an article I wrote for Church in Community

I am not ok. When are we going to stop being silent about matters like this? When are we going to speak out?

Children in our metro are hungry, malnourished and starving. Over the past year 25 children (and counting) under the age of five have died from severe malnutrition.

I am not ok with this, and none of us should be ok with this sinful state of affairs.

In addition to those who have died from malnutrition, many more are severely malnourished.

And what are the authorities doing?

Having another meeting and a mayoral press conference about a multi-stakeholder initiative with lots of nice sentiments and few action points.

On September 11, Eastern Cape Treasury head Daluhlanga Majeke told the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) that the province needed an improved model to fight hunger.

The provincial and national government’s “piecemeal approach” to hunger means the problem will not be solved.

This is not new.

The SAHRC media advisory about the hearing on Friday September 11 states: “The hearings follow the Commission’s Provincial Inquiry into the Right to Food and Child Malnutrition in 2022, and the subsequent tabling of the Commission’s Malnutrition Report in Parliament in 2023.

“Despite the Report’s clear recommendations, implementation has been slow, fragmented and inadequate. This ongoing failure constitutes a direct violation of fundamental human rights to sufficient food and water, the right to dignity and the right to life”.

Meanwhile, the mental and physical health of our children is deteriorating.

Their little bodies waste away, immunity to infections and diseases is substantially weakened and their growth is stunted.

Malnutrition also affects cognitive development, concentration and the ability to learn and retain knowledge.

I am not ok with any of this, and if I really had to express my deepest thoughts on this devastating situation I would be banished from this forum.

Little children are dying of hunger in our metro!

In my deepest moments of anguish and prayer filled contemplation, this verse comes to mind: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like these children. Matthew 19:13-15.

One of the most profoundly moving traditions in the Christian faith is the Christening of little children.

In the Eastern Orthodox christening tradition the baby is stripped of all clothing.

After being fully immersion in the christening font, the priest anoints the baby by rubbing oil on the head, forehead around the mouth, eyes, ears and covering the body, hands and feet – essentially a symbolic gesture of placing the armour of God on the little one.

The Godparents and all those present undertake to guide and nurture the little one to walk in God’s love and grace.

My husband made an interesting observation: “around the world Godparents undertake, in fact they make a vow to observe and ensure the spiritual well-being of children.

“However our obligation and our Christian duty should also include the physical well-being of our godchildren.

“We have a moral obligation to protect children from dying. This is the humanity of human beings protecting humanity! Why don’t we do this and why are we silent?”

Statistics inform us that approximately 11 000 children die annually from malnutrition or starvation in South Africa. This equates to two little children an hour – please let this sink in.

Brothers and sisters in Christ this is a shocking indictment on all of us!

Matthew 25:32-40 states “He will separate the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right ‘come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters (little children) you did for me”.

The Church has to hold the state to account. Leave the building and to become part of the solution over and over again.

We all need to do something.

Every single day we need to relentlessly keep up the pressure by protesting, writing letters, articles and more importantly seek to engage politicians and officials face to face.

Ultimately, we need to send a clear message to the state about the importance of addressing the scourge of childhood hunger.

If politicians and those in positions of power are unmoved by their moral duty, then point out to them that it is in their self-interest to ensure that we have a healthy society made up of healthy adults and children.

Only then will we have the healthy economy needed to sustain their cushy jobs.

The alternative is that citizens will take to the streets as they have in 70 countries around the world over the past year, resulting in many changes of government.

The church has a duty to hold the state accountable and to prevent the society deteriorating into chaos.

While reading this article, somewhere in our beautiful country little children have died of malnutrition.

Two an hour……..

Gail Charalambous: A Sometimes Foolish Woman.