Provide Lifesaving Relief to Drought Victims

Nadifu is a 35-year-old mother of seven living at an internally displaced person (IDP) camp in the Harhar village of Somalia’s Galkayo region. Along with her children, Nadifu lives in a temporary shelter amongst hundreds of other internally displaced people who have fled their homes due to the county’s severe drought. With most families living in scattered shelters made from sticks, twigs, and loose pieces of cloth, conditions at the IDP camp are dire and Nadifu has struggled to provide for the needs of her family.

“Living in the IDP camp has not been easy at all,” said Nadifu. “We lack latrines, clean water and food. We have poor shelter and inadequate health care. Last year, we lost many lives to cholera and acute watery diarrhea,” Nadifu added.

Nadifu first fled her home in the Mudug region of Somalia in 2016 after two consecutive seasons of failed rainfalls wiped out her livestock, forcing her to travel to Galkayo in search of food and clean water for her children. Settling in Harhar village almost a year ago, Nadifu and her children now call the IDP camp home, despite the many challenges they face living there.  

International Medical Corps has been responding to the El-Nino induced drought in Somalia since it first began in 2015, and today provides integrated nutrition treatment, primary health care, and water, sanitation and hygiene services to drought-affected populations across four regions of the country to help ensure that vulnerable IDPs have access to essential health care services. With the increases in cholera and other water-borne diseases at IDP camps due to poor sanitation conditions and a lack of clean water, International Medical Corps is rehabilitating community wells, constructing sanitation infrastructure such as pit latrines, and providing clean water through emergency trucking.

To help stop the spread of disease in vulnerable communities in Galkayo, International Medical Corps has built more than 30 ventilated improvised pit latrines amongst the 15 IDP camps of Harhar village to serve vulnerable individuals like Nadifu. To further support the health of families in the region, International Medical Corps is also spreading awareness of important health and hygiene topics to ensure that individuals have knowledge of the health risks facing their communities and the steps they can take to avoid them. For those like Nadifu, it is this education that she is most appreciate of.

“What I like most about International Medical Corps is the education we get from the team. We get trainings about hygiene, breastfeeding and other healthy practices. As a mother, I am always worried about the health of my children. I have to do what it takes to keep them free from diseases—and International Medical Corps helps me do just that.”

We thank the GlobalGiving community for their continued support of International Medical Corps as we serve drought-affected populations across Central and East Africa and Yemen with lifesaving health care services.