As an ESL teacher in Downtown Minneapolis I feel very connected to the Somali community. I'm used to hearing stories about Somalia. Sometimes they're beautiful memories about celebrating holidays with family, and sometimes they're sad stories about separated families and refugee camps. Lately I'm hearing a lot of fear about the persisting famine. Here’s what the American Refugee Committee has to say about the situation: 

*The Famine in Somalia*
Famine continues to claim the lives of innocent children. Our program director in Somalia recently described the conditions there:
“Fleeing for their life, many of the families have trekked for days before reaching Mogadishu. They left behind almost all of their household effects. They arrived in waves, populating spontaneously created internally displaced person (IDP) settlements within the city. They hardly come with containers to collect and store water, utensils to cook food, or spare clothes to replace the ones they’ve been wearing for days and weeks. Most of the temporary settlements still lack sanitary facilities. The IDPs who ended up in urban settings faced serious problems in finding proper open space to relieve themselves – in fact, women have to wait until sunset to venture out of the squalid settlements to answer nature’s call. Owing to shortage of water and the absence of latrines, many people are unable to bathe for extended periods of time."
“After four months of sustained relief assistance by the international community, the drought and famine continues to ravage southern Somalia – and Mogadishu. Currently, there are more than 300 IDP settlements scattered all over Mogadishu. The conditions of many of these are quite squalid, crowded and with poor hygiene. The conditions are more stabilized in the major camps such as Badbaado, Rajo, and Taribunka (where ARC is working). In the latter two, many households are still without shelter, water, sanitation and food. Many of the smaller settlements are without shelter and are not benefiting from regular food and water distributions. There is a huge gap between the resources available and the needs prevailing on the ground.”

Many of my students like Luul (in the picture) live in Minneapolis, but have family and friends in Somalia. Imagine being separated from your family and not being able to help them. My students tell me about the stress, fear, and guilt they have about this situation and it breaks my heart. Many of them send all the money they can afford to their families every month. Now they’re worried that the money they send can’t be used to buy the things they need. These Respected Minneapolis-based relief organizations like the American Refugee Committee has the ability to reach people and places that individuals can’t.
I know that most of us can’t afford to contribute enough money to the ARC to make that big of a difference, but we can make a difference if we all chip in a little bit of money. Please consider donating ANY amount to help the people suffering from the famine in Somalia. You’ll also help the thousands of Somalis living right here in Minnesota.

 

Please click on this link to read more about the famine in Somalia and the ARC. 

http://www.arcrelief.org/site/PageServer