Somali Famine: Asha’s Story

Asha Horn of Africa

Asha (far left) and her family shared their shelter with another family who arrived earlier that morning.

Photo: 

Christine Mbito

Copyright: 

AFSC

AFSC staffer Christine Mbito spoke with refugees in Dadaab during her trip July 25-28. Here is Asha’s story, as told by Christine.

“Asha, a widow, and her five children agreed to talk to us when we found them at the Ifo Camp; seated in a temporary shelter they constructed themselves from two blankets--their most prized possessions. She gives thanks to God she and all of her children arrived safely from Shabelle Region in Somalia. They have spent two nights in the camp and are waiting to be issued a tent by the humanitarian agencies.

“She told me that she had received food two days earlier. But the supply is already running low and she does not know what she will do if it runs out before the week is over. She said that the food rations only sustain the family for a short while before hunger returns. She and her children are huddled close to each other most of the time since they are new arrivals and do not know the other families caught in the same situation.  

“Asha said, ‘I came here to Dadaab Kenya not because the drought situation is any better here, but because at least here I have a chance of getting my children a meal.’”