East Africa is on the brink of famine with the UN declaring it one of the most urgent humanitarian crises in the world right now.
Hunger pain and heartache have invaded the villages of Ethiopia and haunt the eyes of many there.
Forty-year-old Bonne is a widow with three young children and her malnutrition has led to tuberculosis. She has access to medication, but taking it on an empty stomach, makes the battle that much harder.
"Unless there is food, she will die," the community leader told Newshub - and quickly confirms, she wouldn't be the first.
The country is suffering immensely. The recent civil war and a crippling three-year drought have plunged Ethiopia into a crisis reminiscent of the 1980s catastrophe that led to the famous Live Aid relief effort.
Tearfund NZ International Programmes Director Tim Manson says it is worse than anything he has seen in his 15-year humanitarian career.
"This region of the world is just not getting the support that places like the Middle East conflict, the war in Ukraine have received. So, people have genuinely run out of options," said Manson.
"People do not know where their next meal is coming from. The need is massive and urgent, and we should be doing something about it."
In a small village in the Borena region, in Southern Ethiopia, people are gathering for what they tell us will be a food delivery, but no one can say when it will arrive, or who is delivering it.
Eventually, they reveal, they are waiting on God.
Not everyone's faith has endured. Each of 100-year-old Abdul's 10 children have died of hunger and disease, and he complains to God everyday.
"I'm asking God why do you allow me to live such a miserable life. You have taken all my children, you have taken all my livestock, what hope do I have? I am totally hopeless."
The need in the southern villages is overwhelming, but it is just a fraction of the bigger picture. Around 20 million people in Ethiopia are struggling for food, and the desperation spreads further still, to other countries in east Africa.
It is currently the rainy season in Ethiopia, and in the past month, some rain has fallen.
"The landscape has turned green, but it's not enough to have sustained crops in the region and 85 percent of livestock here have been lost during the drought. One rainy season doesn't lead to recovery from that," explains Manson.
The New Zealand Government has committed $7 million to funding the relief effort, providing both emergency aid and longer term solutions.
Newshub travelled to Ethiopia courtesy of Tearfund for this report.
