This is Somalia

This is Somalia -- a country devastated by conflict and the worst drought in 60 years. In this scorching desert landscape in central Somalia, tens of thousands of people have set up temporary shelters fleeing from famine.

 

But they are also running from manmade disaster. Somalia is awash with weapons and violence. The Kenyan army recently entered Somalia in pursuit Al-Shabaab, a militant islamist group. The country is also beset by widespread piracy and kidnapping.

 

As a result of the violence, hundreds of thousands of destitute people are now displaced inside Somalia with little access to humanitarian aid.

 

The International Rescue Committee is here operating a clinic and hospital in the Somali capital Mogadishu, but also providing livestock, water and food, to tens of thousands of displaced people in central Somalia.

 

Water is scarce in this wasteland. To help people and animals survive, the IRC is building and repairing wells, hand-pumps and pipelines as well as training community volunteers in hygiene.

 

Farhan Ahmed, IRC field manager, Galkayo: “Water is a problem area that people living in this rural area suffer a lot and it causes a lot of conflicts in the rural areas. For harvesting water, IRC provided water supply for this community by also constructing an elevated water tank and a provision of water supply system.”

 

Tens of thousands have died in the famine and quarter of a million people still face imminent starvation according to the United Nations. A deadly drought has also killed thousands of goats, cows and other livestock -- a catastrophe for people who are mainly pastoralists and derive their income from animals. 

 

These animals are all that have survived for the people living in this small hamlet of Do’ol. The IRC workers are checking the animals for diseases and then giving them de-worming drugs to get rid of parasites.

 

Hassan Farah is one of the many who have lost their only source of income. She and her family fled their home after their crops failed. And then they walked for days before reaching the village of Hilmo, which has seen its population triple from an influx of displaced people. When she came here, she learned about an IRC program that distributes livestock to displaced people.  She was given five goats. “The goats give me milk to feed my children and sell in the market to buy rice,” she said. “It really saved me.”

 

The crisis in the Horn of Africa has faded from the headlines, but a long term solution to Somalia’s problems remains distant. In the meantime humanitarian assistance here will be required for years to come.

 

[ENDS]