To Help The World Is To Help The Person Next To You
May 30th 2008 02:34
BY April Simpson
Somalia is referred to as the worlds ‘forgotten crisis.’ Due to intense conflict in their capital city, Mogadishu, 20,000 people are forced from their homes each month. Over the last 6 months, 360,000 people have been relocated in Somalia and an additional half a million are reliant on humanitarian assistance due to severe lack of food and water.
The United Nations warned last week that a humanitarian catastrophe is looming in Somalia, with aid barely trickling through to those in need due to the fighting involving Ethiopian and Somali government forces, clans and Islamist militants.
This isn’t the only problem however, record high food prices, hyperinflation and drought in large parts of the country is leaving communities struggling to survive. While at the same time, extreme water and food shortages are expected to worsen if seasonal rains fail, as is predicted.
Aid workers can only do so much, without being appreciated. Some are being attacked or killed and the relief supplies are being looted; leaving two million Somalis in need of basic humanitarian assistance. "It's very difficult to keep track of the situation and to ferry through relief aid due to growing insecurity and blocked roads," said Veronique Taveau, a spokesperson for the UN Children's Fund.
The average income in Somalia is $130 a year. Women walk to neighbouring villages to wash clothes for locals. This seems to be the only income-generating occupation, if you could call getting paid one dollar for a full day’s hard work an income.
One of Somalia’s most urgent needs is simply fresh, clean water. Wells and taps are going dry and the rainy season itself was a disappointment. Water shortages have made it impossible to replenish the reservoirs. If this wasn’t a desperate enough situation, lack of rain has led to disappointing Cereal crops. This year production is at 30 percent of the average for the last decade.
Clashes between Islamist-led insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces, forced many Somalis to flee their homes. In the last eight months 12,000 inhabitants of Mogadishu displaced by the violence arrived in the Galkayo area 300 miles north, putting an extra strain on water supplies.
In a radius of 17 km a small well and set of taps is the only source of water. Every day inhabitants and drifters go there with their cattle. They don’t expect much – merely to fill a small five liter container, or if they have a larger family, a 10 liter container. This is roughly the equivalent of water needed to flush a toilet once or twice here in a developed country. To put this another way, the amount of water we in Australia use to flush a toilet once or twice will have to last a whole day for a family in Somalia.
A working water pump in a village is a sign of relatively good living. But now the water table has dropped, some pumps are only working and the output has fallen from 15,000 litres per hour to 400 litres per hour, barely enough for two grown-up camels.
“…this is just another disaster we can forget, emotionally detach from. We did our bit in the 80's with Bob and Liveaid, why haven't these people in Somalia sorted themselves out…” This was posted on the Internet anonymously. We live in a safe and secure country so we simply can’t relate to the suffering and pain Somali people are dealing with, but this is no excuse for being deaf to their cries for help. We need to understand that it is our duty as decent human beings to something about it and help them out of their current helpless situation.
We in Western civilization tend to take some things for granted. Simple things, like taking a shower or drinking a cool glass of water. We are so privileged to have this precious resource in abundant quantities. Next time you turn on a tap, think of the poor Somali people, who at this very moment are dying of thirst.
Somalia is referred to as the worlds ‘forgotten crisis.’ Due to intense conflict in their capital city, Mogadishu, 20,000 people are forced from their homes each month. Over the last 6 months, 360,000 people have been relocated in Somalia and an additional half a million are reliant on humanitarian assistance due to severe lack of food and water.
The United Nations warned last week that a humanitarian catastrophe is looming in Somalia, with aid barely trickling through to those in need due to the fighting involving Ethiopian and Somali government forces, clans and Islamist militants.
Aid workers can only do so much, without being appreciated. Some are being attacked or killed and the relief supplies are being looted; leaving two million Somalis in need of basic humanitarian assistance. "It's very difficult to keep track of the situation and to ferry through relief aid due to growing insecurity and blocked roads," said Veronique Taveau, a spokesperson for the UN Children's Fund.
The average income in Somalia is $130 a year. Women walk to neighbouring villages to wash clothes for locals. This seems to be the only income-generating occupation, if you could call getting paid one dollar for a full day’s hard work an income.
One of Somalia’s most urgent needs is simply fresh, clean water. Wells and taps are going dry and the rainy season itself was a disappointment. Water shortages have made it impossible to replenish the reservoirs. If this wasn’t a desperate enough situation, lack of rain has led to disappointing Cereal crops. This year production is at 30 percent of the average for the last decade.
In a radius of 17 km a small well and set of taps is the only source of water. Every day inhabitants and drifters go there with their cattle. They don’t expect much – merely to fill a small five liter container, or if they have a larger family, a 10 liter container. This is roughly the equivalent of water needed to flush a toilet once or twice here in a developed country. To put this another way, the amount of water we in Australia use to flush a toilet once or twice will have to last a whole day for a family in Somalia.
A working water pump in a village is a sign of relatively good living. But now the water table has dropped, some pumps are only working and the output has fallen from 15,000 litres per hour to 400 litres per hour, barely enough for two grown-up camels.
“…this is just another disaster we can forget, emotionally detach from. We did our bit in the 80's with Bob and Liveaid, why haven't these people in Somalia sorted themselves out…” This was posted on the Internet anonymously. We live in a safe and secure country so we simply can’t relate to the suffering and pain Somali people are dealing with, but this is no excuse for being deaf to their cries for help. We need to understand that it is our duty as decent human beings to something about it and help them out of their current helpless situation.
We in Western civilization tend to take some things for granted. Simple things, like taking a shower or drinking a cool glass of water. We are so privileged to have this precious resource in abundant quantities. Next time you turn on a tap, think of the poor Somali people, who at this very moment are dying of thirst.
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