Famine fighters

Lifestyle/Technology | Elderly couple bring relief to their homeland | Susan Olasky

Drought in Ethiopia has aid workers there fearing a repeat of the human suffering brought about by the 1984 famine, which led to more than 1 million deaths. The Christian Science Monitor reported recently that about 10 million Ethiopians (12 percent of the population) need emergency food aid—but the increase in prices makes that food even more expensive.

Sadly, dealing with a food crisis is nothing new for Marta Gabre-Tsadick, the 75-year-old founder of Project Mercy in Yetabon, Ethiopia. Just as she was in 1984, Marta is once again in the United States to raise awareness, collect donations, and expedite a shipment of vitamin-fortified atmit, a thin gruel made of oatmeal, powdered milk, and powdered sugar. It's a life-saving version of a traditional meal that Marta developed with the help of Indiana University in 1984, during the last terrible famine.