Inmates Skip Lunch to Feed Fellow Kenyans

[Judi Lynn]

Inmates Skip Lunch to Feed Fellow Kenyans
By RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press Writer

Sunday, January 1, 2006

(01-01) 13:48 PST NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) --

Thousands of prisoners skipped lunch Sunday to send food to fellow Kenyans affected by food shortages, a senior prison official said.

Most of Kenya's estimated 50,000 prisoners gave up their ration of beans and corn porridge on the day President Mwai Kibaki declared the food shortages caused by drought a national disaster in an effort to speed up relief efforts, officials said.

"In the next six months, up to 2.5 million of our people will be in need of famine relief. This represents close to 10 percent of the country's population," Kibaki said during New Year's celebrations.

Prisoners wanted to help after watching images of starving Kenyans on TV, reading about food shortages in newspapers and discussing the situation with visiting relatives, said John Isaac Odongo, the commandant of Kenya's prison staff training college.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/01/international/i134801S88.DTL

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

1. It's nice to know there IS honor among thieves

--so to speak. Bravo to those who still find it in their hearts to be generous to others, even under such circumstances. The American Republican party should take a lesson.