Pray For Somalia

On August 3, the United Nations declared a famine for the first time in 30 years in two regions of southern Somalia as the drought in the Horn of Africa continues to spread.

As the situation worsens, need continues to rise at a staggering rate. According to an article in the Huffington Post, “The World Food Program estimates that 10 million people already need humanitarian aid. The U.N. Children’s Fund estimates that more than 2 million children are malnourished and in need of lifesaving action.”

Despite the efforts of international humanitarian groups to deliver food to the starving refugees, it is difficult for these organizations to ensure that the food actually reaches the people.

“I believe Somalia represents the worst humanitarian disaster in the world,” said head of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Antonio Guterres.

The World Food Program, the largest food donation agency in the world, operates through a middle-man, delivering food to local agencies in large quantities who then distribute it to the hungry. Thieves have manipulated this system and have stolen over half of donated grains and rice meant for the mouths of starving Somalis. Stolen food is then sold in the market at unrealistically high prices.

Lack of food is not solely attributed to theft. Al-Shabab, Somalia’s most dangerous militant group, has forced out food aid from Somalia’s Luk region.

“We were dependent on food aid,” said Habiba Osman Ibrahim, a 76-year old Somali refugee from Luk, “but because al-Shabab forced out all relief operations and there was no food we had no choice but to flee.”

Little to no access to humanitarian aid has forced thousands of Somalis like Ibrahim to flee to refugee camps in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, walking for days without food or water. The UNHCR reported that 2,000 Somali refugees are crossing the border into Ethiopia each day.

Reaching a refugee camp does not by any means guarantee safety or a meal. The camps are packed way above their capacity. Sexual violence against women and young girls is a major issue in the refugee camps and malnourished children are not receiving vital nutrition.

“Somalis desperate for food are also overrunning Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp in neighboring Kenya, which is seeing some 10,000 new arrivals each week, six times the average at this time last year,” said the Huffington Post.

Knowing that thousands of children die of malnutrition on a daily basis when it seems impossible to help them elicits feelings of powerlessness.

Despite the many issues ravaging the Horn of Africa, there is hope for the future. The World Food Program is working to eliminate food theft by distributing individual portions of food rather than working through contracted distributors. Hopefully, this change will limit theft so that donated food will end up where it belongs-in the mouths of starving Somalis.

Although at this point, donations are almost guaranteed not to reach the starving, there are practical ways to help the people of Somalia. Consider joining Amnesty International, a club on campus that writes letters to government officials, informing them of the situation and calling them to action.

Do not give up hope. God still hears prayers. Pray for relief and pray for rain.

Finding Inspiration in Africa

This summer, 12 Pres girls went to Zambia, a small, peaceful country in South-Central Africa. The first week of the service trip was spent in Livingstone with a group of six Presentation Sisters. The second, we stayed in Pemba with two sisters. While working at the schools and orphanages, I was able to learn from numerous colorful people, old and young.

In Livingstone, I met the most remarkable people the day I worked with caretakers at the Saint Francis Care Center. I went to a house in the community where they hold a clinic once a month for people the in neighborhood that are sick with diseases like AIDS, cancer, diabetes, and malaria. After I did warm-up exercises with the patients, we went to see the four patients that were bedridden. First, I saw a woman who was young and had many children running around her house. Her eyes were extremely sad and she did not speak. Just standing in her presence, I could feel death. It was the first time during trip that just seeing someone made me cry; I was so overwhelmed with compassion that I didn’t know how to deal with it. After I left her house, I met Martin, a 38-year-old man with a warm smile. When I first met him, I was not sure how sick he was because he looked relatively athletic and I could tell he was extremely tall despite the fact he was sitting down. He told me that he had four kids and was taking care of them while his wife was gone. Martin was extremely friendly and quick to make conversation. While we were talking, the caregiver told me that he could not walk because he had some sores on his legs; she asked him to show them to me and he did. Martin lifted the blanket that was covering his legs and exposed the sores on his legs.  All of a sudden, the wind was knocked out of me; I was so shocked to see such big, open wounds on a living person. Neither words nor pictures can describe the enormous, grotesque sores. I was so impressed with Martin’s uplifting and optimistic attitude despite his unbelievable circumstance.  He has made a lasting impression on my outlook on life. It was so inspiring to see someone whose positive attitude enabled him to see past his illness. The stark comparison between the sick woman and the sick man is only seen when looking at their attitudes. Because of Martin’s hopeful outlook on life, he seemed much more able to live his life to the fullest. From this I saw that attitude determines everything and a positive attitude can help bring you through the hardest times.

After the time we spent in Livingstone, the group traveled to a small, rural town called Pemba. In Pemba, we stayed with two extraordinarily inspiring Sisters: Mary Lucey and Bernadette, both retired Irish schoolteachers. They moved to Pemba 14 years ago to bring more world knowledge to the small village; the sisters were the first white people most of the town had ever seen. My favorite memory from Pemba was a talk we had with Sister Mary Lucey one night by the fire. We were all sitting around after dinner and she told us of some of her encounters while being in Africa. The stories were very interesting but the best part was at the end, when she told us, “You know, you do what you can.” After she explained her heroic efforts and the tremendous amount of work she has done in Pemba, she simply said that she tries her hardest to do what she can and in the end of the day, that pays off the most. This quote has stayed with me since the trip because it is such a good way to view our abilities here on Earth. Her insight on life has given me new hope in the endeavors I take. It doesn’t matter how much you do but the intensity and how much of yourself you give to it.

The sisters serve as inspiration to all Pres girls because of how much of their lives they have given to the people of Pemba. There are sisters just like Mary Lucey and Bernadette all over the world; the Presentation community is truly international!