Faced with starvation, Hassan took the remaining eight children and began a 15-day trek to reach the capital, Mogadishu. Towards the end of their journey, her 2-year-old daughter collapsed and died. They buried her in the middle of her.
“I cried so much and lost consciousness, but we have so many problems. We don’t have food or shelter,” she said.
Hassan’s face, sitting in a plastic chair in a clinic run by the International Rescue Commission (IRC) in Mogadishu, is exhausted and expressionless while a doctor sees a little girl curled up on her lap. ..
Her daughter Muslim is 18 months old and weighs just over 10 pounds. The paper-like skin is taut over her protruding ribs. She doesn’t cry. The doctor measures her little forearm. The tape is displayed in red, indicating severe malnutrition.
At this clinic, the number of cases surged by 80% last month alone, and severe malnutrition in children under the age of 5 increased by 265%, says Mukhtar Mahdi, senior nutrition manager at IRC.
“We have never seen these levels in our clinic. It hurt my heart. That’s why I’m still working in the field to avoid catastrophe.”
Mohammad Mohammed Hassan, Country Director of Save the Children, says the situation is worse than he’s seen before.
“Wheat consumed in Somalia, 92% of which comes from Russia and Ukraine,” he said. “Wheat prices have doubled in some areas.”
“The war in Ukraine really made this situation worse.”
“What’s happening in Ukraine is, of course, inhaling a lot of oxygen,” explained Lara Fossi, Deputy Director of the World Food Program. “So, back to what’s happening here, it was really difficult.”
According to the United Nations, about 7 million people, almost half of Somalia’s population, do not eat enough. It is estimated that 1.5 million children under the age of 5 are severely malnourished and about 448 have died this year. Aid workers warn that the actual numbers could be much higher, as the deaths of many children here, like Hassan’s children, have not been recorded.
In the suburbs of the capital, a fierce wind blows through the temporary tents of the recently established Arnaim Camp. It is one of many informal settlements with limited support from neighboring communities, governments and aid groups. Camp administrator Zamzam Mohammed said last month that the population surged and now has 876 families.
According to the United Nations, this is only a small percentage of the approximately 800,000 people evacuated due to drought and hunger this year. According to UNICEF, 36,000 new arrivals were recorded at camps across Somalia in the last week of June. The agency and its local partner organizations are working to improve hygiene and distribute aid in Naim and other camps outside Mogadishu, but they are struggling to keep pace. Is called.
UNICEF’s Victor Chinyama says the community around Mogadishu, known for helping new arrivals, is now struggling. “The host community can’t support new arrivals as they did before,” he said.
Camp director Mohammed marches towards the edge of the camp, where she says she oversaw the burial of 30 children. Lined with freshly dug soil mounds, easily marked with aloe leaves and acacia branches.
“From that corner to this corner, this row of graves are all children … When you bury a baby, you feel such pain and sadness. You can’t help. I’m a mom. As parents, you can feel their pain, “Mohammed said.
She holds a scarf and taps the tears that flow from her eyes.
“I can’t stand going,” she told CNN. “Sadness I feel …”
She walks away and pays attention to the young daughter sitting beside her.
“She was very ill. I will visit them when she gets better.”
Source: www.cnn.com
