Somalia's Refugees

The corridor between Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu and the town of Afgooye is already home to 400,000 displaced Somalis, some of them living in huts made of twigs and branches. The clinics are already overwhelmed with malnourished and sick children. Now, fighting between government forces and Islamist militias has triggered the flight of an estimated 67,000 more men, women and children in and around Mogadishu. More than 500,000 Somalis have already fled to Kenya.

“Most of these refugees are heading to the Afgooye corridor, a 19-mile stretch of ramshackle housing described as a nightmare,” A United Nations report states. The area has been described as the largest single gathering of displaced residents in the world today.

But the massive outpouring of aid from western nations that has been seen in past crises such as the Berlin Blockade of the 1940s or the tragic Ethiopian famines of the 1980s and 1990s is missing. Somali pirates and anti-government militias are blocking or seizing relief efforts -- all in hopes of gaining control of a starving population.

What in the world must be done?

Mama Africa and the lost children of the Congo

For the past 15 years, a middle-aged woman has taken care of dozens of boys and girls who have been abandoned, separated from their families or orphaned in the long-running war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. When she cannot find a family to host them, the children are welcome to stay at her house. Most of them are Congolese or Rwandan.

“Each time there is a war in Congo,” she says, “women get killed or raped, and many children are left on their own. They are homeless and live like vagrants. God has given me the gift to help children. There have been 158 to date. Everybody around here knows about me. People bring me every unaccompanied child they come across.”

With her own 12 children, she often loses count of her own grandchildren, but with all those she has helped over the years, those who know her agree that she rightfully deserves to be called “Mama Africa.”
To see a video concerning the plight of children the Congo’s lost and orphaned children go to http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/05/12/icrc.drc.congo.red.cross/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Fasting for Darfur

Three days ago, British businessman Richard Branson took over from actress Mia Farrow on a water-only fast to raise awareness about the ongoing tragedy in Darfur. Farrow fasted for 12 days in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of those suffering in Darfur.

“We are fasting to get people from all over the world to demand that our leaders pressure the Sudanese government to reinstate the aid agencies recently kicked out of Darfur,” Branson writes in an editorial. “This cruel gesture has left over 1 million people in Darfur at risk of starvation and disease.”

“After only three days without food, my body already feels weakened,” Branson explains. “I can't even imagine what it must be like for many people in Darfur who have no choice but to go without food for weeks. I'm doing what I can to help raise the volume on this issue, but certainly the voices of those who are suffering are far more powerful than mine.”

Those fasting for Darfur have also posted stories from Darfur residents describing the horror of life in the region. For more information on the Darfur Fast, visit fastdarfur.org.