B.C. Dodge & R. Mordant Mahon talk to Yusuf Ahmed from IRW in this episode of “What a Relief!” — IRUSA’s official podcast.
This week B.C. & Mordant welcome Yusuf Ahmed all the way from Nairobi. He joins the podcast this week to talk about the devastating drought in East Africa. Yusuf is the Regional Director for Somalia for IRW.
“We are seeing a situation that is really horrifying,” he says.
In a community that relies heavily on livestock and farming for their livelihood, the correlation between weather and the ability to thrive is significant. Yusuf explains this and more in an eye opening episode of the podcast.
“Imagine that your child is asking you for water to drink. Imagine that your sister or aunt is delivering a child in a small, remote village where there are no health facilities. That is the situation we are talking about, that 19 million people in the horn of Africa are facing,” he says.
“Islamic Relief is one of the humanitarian agencies working in the four countries,” he explains. “We’ve been providing water to places where it has dried up. People have received water from our program. We have been providing nutrition programs for the most vulnerable and for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. We’ve also been providing non food items such as plastic sheeting for makeshift homes. The communities we work with have largely been displaced by conflict or drought. Close to 6.3 million people are internally displaced.”
He shares personal accounts of shocking stories he has witnessed due to the drought, and points out that people are leaving not because they do not have homes, but because they have no food. He calls upon our collective conscious to help.
He talks about his trip to a camp in Mogadishu. “I met women and children and people with disabilities who came 480 kilometers to reach the camp. They traveled for days and days. You can’t imagine. They have no health care, no clean water, and no shelter,” he says.
Tune in to this week’s episode to hear more from Yusuf and contemplate all that we take for granted. Most importantly, find out how you can get involved and be a part of an effort to put an end to the suffering you hear about in this episode.
“We have a moral obligation as humans to assist our fellow human beings.
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