Somalia’s severe drought ravages lives but not humanity
Vicious sun rays broiling the dirt road; a baby with a swollen belly cuddling the mother; pieces of fabric throbbing against the tent from the wind — a harsh livelihood, yet a daily reality inside the Liibaan Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) settlement in Baidoa, Somalia.
A severe drought has left long-troubled Somalia on the brink of famine — about half of the country’s population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
Fellow UN News multimedia producer Laura Gelbert and I flew to the Horn of Africa nation recently to report the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation.
The Liibaan IDP settlement we visited shelters some 700 people displaced by severe drought. Most of them are women and children. Some walked for hours or even days in search of food and water.
“Sideee tahay?” means “how are you doing?” in Somali — a greeting that unfolded heart-wrenching stories of Maiuma, Nuria and Dera, who recently arrived at the settlement.
Maiuma used to be a farmer. She travelled 400 kilometres with her three children to the settlement in search of food and water.
“All our animals died,” she said. The drought left her family with nothing.
Transported by a commercial truck, Nuria arrived at the settlement with her 10-month-old daughter. Her husband stayed behind. She said she only gets water when the aid truck arrives and receives limited food from her neighbours.
Asked if she wanted to go back home, a glimpse of hope sparked in her eyes: “If we get stability and enough rain, we will sure return to our home,” she said.
When we met Dera, she was sitting outside a tent with her four children. Her 10-month-old daughter was suffering from a malaria-induced fever. Dera patted the baby gently to comfort her from coughing.
Dera had walked her children to the settlement for food and water. She said she had another child, who had recently died from diarrhoea.
Throughout the conversations, the intimate gaze from the mothers at the camera was unsettling. The gaze pierced through devastation and indeed revealed a strong sense of resilience, and a strong will to live.
Little children followed us around, intrigued by the camera. I tried to document their excitement, curiosity and the sparkling look in their eyes. Though the drought left no food or water, it didn’t drain away the precious nature of a child, I mused.
The drought has ravaged lives but not humanity.
“Inshallah,” the UN Secretary-General António Guterres greeted the displaced families during his visit to the settlement, which means “God willing” in Arabic.
“We will make sure you get help,” he said, “The world must act now.”
The United Nations urged a massive scale-up in international support to avert a famine in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa nation and curb the spread of cholera.
Humanitarians are seeking $825 million to support 5.5 million people in Somalia until June 2017, in a famine prevention plan.
