Somalia Stopover
Water is precious in Somalia. Paul Crawford discovers just how precious.
Mogadishu , Somalia , is laid out in orderly blocks, its streets lined with bullet-riddled cars in front of destroyed buildings. About three hours north of the city is a town called Adale, where the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) operate a hospital, right on the edge of the Indian Ocean. I’m on my way to check a project inland in the desert town of Mohumed Saaid.
At 5.30 am, along with seven others (two are armed), I head off in a swirl of dust. Two sweatdrenched hours later we arrive at the village of some 300 residents, but it serves the region’s nomad population, estimated to be around 2000.
After checking out the health centre, we head toward the back of the village where there’s a well, which ADRA had repaired some years before. The hand-dug well is deep—80 metres—and lined with stones. Looking down, I can barely see the water.
Several years ago, the well had partially collapsed, making it necessary for the villagers to transport water 35 kilometres across the desert. It strikes me how much I take for granted and how essential are life’s simple things— like clean water.
When ADRA repaired the well, it greatly improved the quality of life for the people in the area, but especially for the women whose job it is to carry water.
As I turned away from the well, I almost bumped into a young woman carrying a baby on her hip. She greets me in Somali and then, realising who I am, through our interpreter she told me that when the ADRA water team came to fix the well in 1993, they’d stayed in her home. She had been so impressed by the hard work and dedication of the team.
“What’s your baby’s name?” I ask.
“Frank,” she says.
“Frank?” I stare back blankly. Most Somali names are Mohummed . . .
“What Frank Brenda and his team did for our village has improved life for us in a great way,” she says. “My husband and I decided we would name our child Frank.
I want my son to grow up to be a water engineer and to work for ADRA and do great things for people, too!” Her statement confronted me with the reality of my selfishness, annoyed that I’d had to take time from a busy schedule to come here. Her appreciation helped me to glimpse the true results of ADRA fulfilling its purpose.
Potable water is an extremely precious commodity in Somalia. People walk for hours to fetch water every day. When they reach the watering hole, they have to compete with cattle and camels for the water. Such wells as this one at Mohumed Saaid are vital to even a subsistence life.
ADRA has been the only aid agency working in this area, whose primary needs are water and health. ADRA’s ever-enthusiastic staff has started an innovative and successful project. ADRA now aims to set up community health centres at strategic villages and encourage the communities concerned to establish “health committees” to manage and develop the centres.
The philosophy behind this is to get the communities to feel ownership of projects—that the centres are theirs, not ADRA’s. This, in turn, will mean that they will take greater care of the centre and value it more. The ultimate goal is for ADRA to fully train local community health workers, then step back to a monitoring role only.
Somalia ’s needs are not disimilar to those of many countries where ADRA has a presence. Many need water and medical facilities.
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