Somali famine refugees begin Ramadan fast
01 August, 2011 | By Richard Lough (Reuters)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somalia's famine refugees, weakened by months of drought, on
Monday began Islam's punishing Ramadan fast amid the tents
and shacks of the world's largest refugee camp.
"Because of the famine, we've been going for days without any
food anyway," said 25-year-old Mohamed Dubow Saman,
comforting his daughter outside their emergency shelter in
Dadaab camp, just over Somalia's border in neighbouring
Kenya.
Africa in decades, appeared determined to keep to their
traditions.
As the sun sank below the horizon late on Sunday, bathing
Dadaab's makeshift city in a deep orange hue, Saman scanned
the sky for the first sight of the crescent moon, which would
mark the start of the month-long fast.
Like millions of fellow believers across the world, Saman was
prepared to go without food or water from dawn to dusk and
wait until night to eat his meagre rations.
Ramadan comes at a tough time for the Horn of Africa's
Muslim population. In parts of the drought-prone region the
rains have failed for four straight years, pastoralists say.
The United Nations has warned the whole of southern Somalia
is slipping into famine. In all, more than 12 million people are
affected across the Horn.
A rebellion waged by Islamist militants has prevented the
distribution of food aid in some parts of Somalia.
Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has embarked on a tour
of countries in the region, kicking off with Djibouti over the
weekend, to stress the importance of delivering aid within the
country first, so Somalis do not have to trek elsewhere.
"We don't want our compatriots to have to make testing
journeys to other countries to receive aid," he told Reuters.
AFRICA PLEDGING CONFERENCE
The African Union is also planning to hold a pledging
conference for African heads of state and international partners
on August 9 in the Ethiopian capital to raise money to support
those hit by the drought in the Horn of Africa.
"Around the globe, everyone must dig deep into their pockets
to rescue the people of Somalia from the abyss they find
themselves staring into," said AU Commission Deputy
Chairperson Erastus Mwencha during a visit to Mogadishu last
week.
As night fell over the crowded refugee camp, a young girl led
her family out of the scrub, carrying a rug adorned with
scriptures from the Koran over her shoulder.
They were the latest among the tens of thousands of refugees
arriving at the already over-flowing camp, initially meant to host
270,000 people but now home to more than 400,000, the vast
majority Somalis.
Aid workers are struggling to cope with the influx. It is taking
the United Nations refugee agency days, sometimes weeks to
register and issue new-arrivals with tents.
Weary from the long walk to Kenya, the girl's family will have
to mark at least the start of Ramadan sleeping rough in the bush.
Close by, just before the start of the fast, Abdulrahman Malim
Abdi mopped up the remains of a meal of wheat flour and
water -- scant sustenance for him and his 10 children.
Abdi said his family's two-week food rations were unlikely to
last that long, even if they adhered to the strict rules of the fast.
"This is how we enter Ramadan, it will be difficult," Abdi said,
adding that in previous years he would have broken a day's
fasting with meat, rice, pasta and dates.
Meanwhile, Saman turned his thoughts to prayer.
"We'll worship here, right by the tents. In our situation, you
can't even dream of a mosque," he said.
Courtesy
01 August, 2011 | By Richard Lough (Reuters)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somalia's famine refugees, weakened by months of drought, on
Monday began Islam's punishing Ramadan fast amid the tents
and shacks of the world's largest refugee camp.
"Because of the famine, we've been going for days without any
food anyway," said 25-year-old Mohamed Dubow Saman,
comforting his daughter outside their emergency shelter in
Dadaab camp, just over Somalia's border in neighbouring
Kenya.
- "That was a fast
without reward. At
least this fast is inspired
by God," he said.
- Sick people do not
have to keep the fast
during the holy Muslim
month of Ramadan.
But most camp-
Africa in decades, appeared determined to keep to their
traditions.
As the sun sank below the horizon late on Sunday, bathing
Dadaab's makeshift city in a deep orange hue, Saman scanned
the sky for the first sight of the crescent moon, which would
mark the start of the month-long fast.
Like millions of fellow believers across the world, Saman was
prepared to go without food or water from dawn to dusk and
wait until night to eat his meagre rations.
Ramadan comes at a tough time for the Horn of Africa's
Muslim population. In parts of the drought-prone region the
rains have failed for four straight years, pastoralists say.
The United Nations has warned the whole of southern Somalia
is slipping into famine. In all, more than 12 million people are
affected across the Horn.
A rebellion waged by Islamist militants has prevented the
distribution of food aid in some parts of Somalia.
Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has embarked on a tour
of countries in the region, kicking off with Djibouti over the
weekend, to stress the importance of delivering aid within the
country first, so Somalis do not have to trek elsewhere.
"We don't want our compatriots to have to make testing
journeys to other countries to receive aid," he told Reuters.
AFRICA PLEDGING CONFERENCE
The African Union is also planning to hold a pledging
conference for African heads of state and international partners
on August 9 in the Ethiopian capital to raise money to support
those hit by the drought in the Horn of Africa.
"Around the globe, everyone must dig deep into their pockets
to rescue the people of Somalia from the abyss they find
themselves staring into," said AU Commission Deputy
Chairperson Erastus Mwencha during a visit to Mogadishu last
week.
As night fell over the crowded refugee camp, a young girl led
her family out of the scrub, carrying a rug adorned with
scriptures from the Koran over her shoulder.
They were the latest among the tens of thousands of refugees
arriving at the already over-flowing camp, initially meant to host
270,000 people but now home to more than 400,000, the vast
majority Somalis.
Aid workers are struggling to cope with the influx. It is taking
the United Nations refugee agency days, sometimes weeks to
register and issue new-arrivals with tents.
Weary from the long walk to Kenya, the girl's family will have
to mark at least the start of Ramadan sleeping rough in the bush.
Close by, just before the start of the fast, Abdulrahman Malim
Abdi mopped up the remains of a meal of wheat flour and
water -- scant sustenance for him and his 10 children.
Abdi said his family's two-week food rations were unlikely to
last that long, even if they adhered to the strict rules of the fast.
"This is how we enter Ramadan, it will be difficult," Abdi said,
adding that in previous years he would have broken a day's
fasting with meat, rice, pasta and dates.
Meanwhile, Saman turned his thoughts to prayer.
"We'll worship here, right by the tents. In our situation, you
can't even dream of a mosque," he said.
Courtesy
| All rights reserved. |
| Ethio Quest News Together We Can Make It! |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Somalia: Too Big a Problem to Fail? BY KEN MENKHAUS Somali insurgent leader says Eritrea supports fight Reuters Somalia: Al Shabab is biggest threat |
| Ink in His Veins and Somalia in His Heart Nuruddin Farah "trying to keep my country alive by writing about it." More Dilemmas facing Somali music and musicians "The Somali artists once used to set the goals and visions of their nation,... More IFJ Demands Action to Protect Journalists After Killing of Somali Leader "...The IFJ has strongly backed the protest of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) whose Vice President Nasteh Dahir Farah, was gunned down...More |
| Related Stories UN declares famine in Somalia Mark Tran (Guardian) Somalia: On the brink of disaster AlertNet Famine Looms in Somalia as Crisis Marks 20th Year By Elizabeth Campbell Youths, Preacher Seek Egypt-Style Revolt By Abdulkadir Khalif War Crimes Investigation Needed in Somali Capital, Civil Rights Group Says William Davison Ethiopian Government Denies Plans to Intervene in Somalia `At This Point' By William Davison Somali militants attack hotel, target U.S.-backed lawmakers The Washington Post |
| Previous Stories Suicide belt' found after Uganda World Cup blasts BBC Somali football fans executed for watching matches Telegraph Somalia's ahlu Sunna clash with Shabaab,... By Abdi Sheikh Islamist Rebels in Somalia Threaten to Attack Ethiopia Newstime Africa Somalis rally against al-Shabab BBC Somalia suicide bomb kills 57 CCTV |
