A Kenyan father and his sons sitting by their house outside MombasaSeptember 8, 2009: A ruinous drought is killing children, livestock, and crops across Kenya, according to The New York Times.

Kenya has one of Africa's strongest economies, but the drought has damaged the nation's tourism and agriculture industries, which Kenyans heavily rely upon to make a living. The animals that draw safari-going tourists to the savanna are literally dying from hunger. Dry water wells and diminishing cropland are fueling ethnic tensions.

According to the United Nations World Food Program, four million Kenyans are in urgent need of food.

Malnutrition and hunger often hit children the hardest.

SOS Children's Villages in Kenya Provide Homes, Food

This Kenyan boy is a beneficiary of an SOS family strengthening program in Mombasa.The New York Times reports that children in some parts of Kenya are walking 20 miles for a drink of water. Unable to provide for their families, some men are disappearing into the desert out of shame.

In Kenya, SOS now runs four SOS Children's Villages as well as kindergartens, schools, training centers, clinics, and social counselling centers. The SOS Children's Villages are in Buru Buru, a suburb of Nairobi, and in Mombasa, Eldoret, and Meru.

Starting in 2003, SOS began programs to help stem the AIDS pandemic afflicting Kenya and other African countries. SOS social and medical centers in Kenya advise local families in HIV/AIDS prevention and offer basic treatment. SOS also operates family strengthening programs to keep families intact so that they will not need to send their children to be raised by SOS Children's Villages.

It doesn't take a lot of money to give a Kenyan child a chance at a happy, productive life. Sponsor a child today.