Buy a bracelet, make a statement, make a difference. These days, students at University of Richmond can be found wearing light blue bracelets – not dissimilar to the color of the Somali flag – as a statement of their contribution to “fight the famine.” Just $5 buys one American student a bracelet and one Somali child enough food to sustain them for two weeks. With the alarming news of a fresh drought in Somalia, this student initiative remains more relevant than ever.

The campaign is the idea of one student, Shiksha Mahtani, who wanted to take action. She designed bracelets, set up a table at her school, made a video, and put up a facebook page. Little did she know she would meet so many like-minded, action-oriented students. Not only have they raised money to feed Somali families (100% of the proceeds from all bracelets purchased goes directly to TAF’s food delivery project in Somalia), but they are also making a statement. The blue bracelet is teaching people across campus that, in our increasingly inter-connected world, Somalia matters more than ever, and a starving child anywhere is a loss for all humanity.

TAF thanks Shiksha and each and every student who wears a blue bracelet – you’re our heroes. We also hope this story will inspire our readers. We can all make a difference!

To see the facebook page, click here.

To see the video, click here.

Just weeks after the UN declared the Somali famine “over,” new reports from Somalia are emerging that indicates just the opposite: THE CRISIS IS FAR FROM OVER.

Here are the facts:

According to IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks), IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development), and climate scientists, drought is likely to return to Somalia over the next three months.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says there are still 9.5 million people in need throughout the Horn of Africa and 2.3 million in Somalia alone. That’s 31% of the entire Somali population.

In Northern Kenya, just along the border with Somalia, Kenya’s meteorological department recorded the highest temperatures in over 13 years.

The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction says that the coping mechanisms of people in most of the areas who experienced drought and famine in 2010 and 2011 is almost non-existent. They will not be able to cope with another crisis.

We have early warning, now it is time for early action. We cannot wait for people to show up in Dadaab refugee camp yet again.

Iftiin Founding Members Sagal Ali and Fatima Hassan were apart of a great group of East African Diaspora members, who spoke on 2 panels at the White House last week.  During the Famine this past summer (Summer 2011), Iftiin was a great partner to TAF and helped raise large amounts to help feed the 50,000 Somalis that TAF reached. They continue to support TAF in several ways, and are apart of the change we all want to see!

To see more, check out their blogs at http://www.whitehouse.gov/champions.

The African Future brings food to Somalia’s most desperate famine zones

We’d like to introduce you to The African Future, an organization devoted to improving the quality of life for the future of Africa. In this piece, founder Abdi-Fatah Ahmed reports on their efforts in Somalia. Follow them on Twitter at @dafricanfuture

We have all seen the figures: 4 million Somalis are directly impacted by the ongoing famine in East Africa; 750,000 are at risk for starvation. We can comprehend that these are not just numbers. They are parents without options, kids without dreams, real people without food to put in their mouths.

In Somalia, they die of hunger. The new year has not made this reality go away.

People say that it is too dangerous or too difficult to help. So we excuse ourselves by telling ourselves that it is impossible to do our part. We at The African Future (TaF) want to tell you a different story –- our story.

The African Future’s first Convoy for Hope demonstrated that food aid could be safely delivered into certain towns in southern Somalia, which are under the firm control of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia & other local administrations. Last August, our convoy into Dhoobley, Somalia was the first to cross the border from Kenya, prompting other international aid agencies to follow our lead. From August 15 to 23, we distributed our second and third convoys to an additional 1,500 families, or 7,500 people.

In September 2011, our fourth convoy left for Balet Hawa and Dolo, two places that had not received any major food shipments since the famine was declared two months earlier. When we arrived on the scene, our team witnessed the grim devastation: emaciated and dying children against an exposed landscape of thousands of people sleeping in makeshift shelters under trees -– many who had been traveling for weeks by foot through the desert in search of food and water. We fed 25,000 people in four days.

One food basket is filled with enough goods to sustain a family of five for 2 weeks. The food is traditional –- it includes rice, porridge, dates, tea leaves and more -– things that Somalis are accustomed to eating. They don’t cost very much. All in, including delivery and other incidentals, a person can be fed for two weeks for just $5. We’ve so far reached 50,000 people with food aid.

So please, the next time you or someone you know thinks it is impossible to help, remember this story. And better yet, join our Convoy For Hope. The next delivery leaves in February 2012. They can have a future.

Food TV: Lunching with Bravo’s Latest Chef Cynosure, Roblé Ali

LINK: http://www.observer.com/2011/11/food-tv-lunching-with-bravos-latest-chef-cynosure-roble-ali/

Chef Roble Ali (via Getty Images)

It was a rainy Wednesday as we sloshed into our lunch date at Del Frisco’s Grille with Bravo’s new reality food show star, Chef Roblé & Co.’s Roblé Ali. Despite the weather, Chef Roblé—whose known through blog buzz as the “hip-hop chef”—looks dry and impeccably hip as he orders the appetizers for the table. When the food arrives, the wunderkind chef and recent catering entrepreneur bites into one of his cheesesteak eggrolls. “These are sooo much better than the ones at Justin Timberlake’s place [the restaurant Southern Hospitality],” he moans, eyes closed. “That just wasn’t barbecue. It was very corporate over there. I was so disappointed.”

Not that Chef wants to diss on JT, of course. The former ’N Syncer “comes to Avenue all the time,” he said, referring to the Noah Tepperberg-run restaurant where he cooks. Mr. Ali even manned the burners for his last birthday party. Given the litany of celebs that he  has cooked for—Leonardo DiCaprio, Diddy, record executive Kevin Liles, Russell Simmons, Jay-Z, Bono, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Megan Fox (whom he didn’t recognize when they were hanging out, funny story … ), Vanessa Williams—it’s no surprise he’s got a reality show (in which he runs a swank catering business with his sister, Jasmine Ali).

After all, haven’t shows like Top Chef and Project Runway proven that cooks and designers with talent and charisma (not necessarily in that order) can ascend to the same star level as those who act in films, sell platinum records, or happen to be the daughters of one of O.J.’s lawyers?

And Roble Ali has the creds: after having been handpicked by nightlife impresario Mr. Tepperberg to be the executive chef at celebrity hotspot Avenue, a reality show on Bravo is a natural move for the attractive and ambitious schmoozer with a culinary gift. He was in the kitchen during The Stanton Social’s launch, alongside his mentor Chris Santos, who also hired the young Mr. Ali as Chef de Cuisine at Mojo. He was the youngest sous chef to work under the prestigious Abigail Kirsch.

“By the way, I really hate the term hip-hop chef,” the 27-year-old stopped us at the first mention of his moniker. “I am not the hip-hop chef. That all started with one blogger. I think Grub Street was the first to call me that, but when I started cooking at Avenue, you’d see it written up in the New York Post, New York magazine, Eater.