The food situation in northern Uganda is desperate. 20 years of insecurity caused by a rebel war has left more than a million people living in displacement camps. Without access to land and resources they must rely on food aid for their survival.

World Vision is distributing United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) food rations to families living in displacement camps in the Pader district of northern Uganda.

One of these families is headed by Sophia, an elderly blind woman who is struggling to care for her sick husband, her daughter and her orphaned grandchildren.

Sophia and her extended family were forced to flee to the displacement camp when rebels burned down their village and killed her son and his wife.

Unlike other camp dwellers, Sophia's family does not have the strength or  resources to grow food for themselves. They are totally dependent on the WFP rations distributed by World Vision.

Akanyo is one of Sophia's grandchildren. Weak from lack of food, Akanyo stopped laughing and playing long ago. She cries out for food when the hunger becomes too much to bear.

Sophia says that if they can summon the energy, the family sometimes searches for berries in the surrounding bush. The fruit is bitter and indigestible, but it fills empty tummies and stops the crying, if only for a little while.

Sophia has no idea how her family would survive without the food distributions. “I’m always worried about how I’ll be able to feed the children,” she says. “I try to look after the children so they can have their health and an education.”

You can help families like Sophia's and others in Uganda, by donating to the Multiplying Gift Appeal. It's the way World Vision works with the World Food Programme to ensure these hungry people get the food they so desperately need.