21 August 2018•Update: 22 August 2018
By Andrew Wasike and Magdalene Mukami
NAIROBI, Kenya
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and five other NGOs on Tuesday sacrificed 350 of 2,000 camels and cows for the less fortunate in the East African nation of Kenya.
Thousands, including Christians, lined up at various locations across the country to receive five to eight kilos of meat donated by the Turkish people on the first of the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday.
Mustafa Adan, 48, after receiving his bag full of steak told Anadolu Agency: ”Without the kind people of Turkey I would sleep hungry on this day but here I am with my bag full of meat. My family and I will eat this meat for a few days. I am forever grateful to the people of Turkey, may Allah protect them and bless them.”
Mary Ann Mueni, a Christian who also received a bag said: “I thought they would chase me away because I am not Muslim, but they told me that they celebrate Eid with their neighbors and we are their neighbors. I am thankful to Turkey.”
”Today we kicked the program off in Biafra Mosque in Nairobi and we will cover around 6,000 families in total but all the animals will reach 40,000 Kenya families in different districts including the Kibera slums,” TIKA coordinator in Nairobi Emre Yuksek said.
“Food security is an important issue in Kenya and on this occasion, we would like to help the families tackle that food insecurity problem.”
The Eid al-Adha meat distribution will end on Thursday.
The NGOs that were partners in TIKA's operation are the Hayrat Foundation, the Cansuyu Charity, HEKVA, Konya rida, Doctors World Wide Turkey and the Red Crescent.
