Cassandra Nelson's blog

Benti and her family walked for more than 30 days to reach the displacement camp in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, where they now live in this makeshift shelter alongside thousands of others. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

I spent several days visiting the camps in Mogadishu where Mercy Corps is working to provide assistance to people who have been displaced by the famine, as well as years of civil war. There are almost 1.5 million displaced people in Somalia — and one-third of them, almost half a million people, are living in camps in Mogadishu.

Over the past 60 days alone, an estimated 100,000 Somalis — driven by drought and famine — have fled to Mogadishu in search of food, water, shelter and other assistance. Tens of thousands of people are moving in search of assistance and temporarily settle anywhere they can find a little space to set up a makeshift shelter.

For these displaced families, life is that of absolute destitution as they face a myriad of challenges ranging from thirst, hunger, exposure to the harsh sun, severe malnutrition, cholera, disease and more. Tens of thousands of people have already died.

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Halima and her baby Abdulrahman in one of Mogadishu, Somalia's overcrowded hospital. Abdulrahman is suffering from severe acute malnutrition and watery diarrhoea, a symptom of cholera. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

I joined the Mercy Corps team on an assessment mission to Mogadishu, where the drought and famine are taking the greatest toll. I have been responding to humanitarian emergencies with Mercy Corps for nearly a decade and have witnessed terrible suffering — but the situation in Mogadishu is truly the worst humanitarian crisis I have seen.

I visited the hospitals to assess the general conditions and identify how Mercy Corps can assist. What I found was truly heart wrenching. The hospitals are overcrowded and overstretched. Everywhere I looked I saw mothers holding babies sitting on the floor on scraps of cardboard because there are no beds or chairs available. Examination tables completely filled with little babies on IVs with their mothers anxiously watching them, filled with fear that they may die at any moment.

I spent an hour at a large hospital and witnessed three children, all less than four years old, die. Cholera is rampant. On Tuesday the World Health Organisation stated that Mogadishu is now experiencing a cholera epidemic.

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In Sami Shakmak's restaurant, a volunteer cook makes part of a meal for thousands of people affected by Libya's ongoing crisis. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Just seven months ago, Sami Shakmak had big plans to open a nice restaurant in Benghazi and start a prosperous business. He bought a building and spent months renovating it and adding in special details to make the perfect ambiance for Libyan families to come and enjoy an evening out in Benghazi.

He installed a fountain, created a waterfall, built a large outdoor gazebo and had the entire interior remodeled. He even put in a special pizza oven to be sure his pizzas had the best crust in town.

Then, just weeks before his grand opening, the Libyan uprising began. Sami and his friends were at the protests from the beginning, supporting the popular uprising and call for democracy. But as the days passed and fighting began to take its toll on many towns, he felt he needed to do more than just protest.

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Fatimah Mahfouth was forced to flee an attack on her hometown of Ajdabiya, Libya and delivered a healthy baby boy in a displacement camp. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Despite all the fighting and uncertainty in Libya, some things in Libya are continuing as scheduled. The schools may be closed and the banks all shut, but babies are still being born to very proud and anxious parents.

Fatimah Mahfouth was due to deliver her fourth child when Gaddafi forces violently took over her town of Ajdabiya. She fled her home with her husband and three children and went to Albehthan, a small, desert village about 40 kilometers away. They could only take a few things as they had to leave very quickly to escape the shelling on their town.

“I started having labour pains while we were on the road to Albethan,” said Fatimah. “I thought to myself, ‘Oh no, please not now.’ But there was nothing I could do to stop it.”

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Families displaced by Libya's ongoing violence are living in schools, unfinished houses, abandoned old buildings and, in some cases, makeshift tents like this in the desert surrounding the village. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Last week, when the town of Ajdabiya — population of about 170,000 — was attacked by Gaddafi forces, most of the people fled the town to escape the fighting. About 2,000 families went to a small, dusty village in the of the desert called Albethan. They knew the way very well, as they had already been displaced there just two weeks prior, when Gaddafi forces took their city the first time.

The front line between Gaddafi forces and the opposition has been moving back and forth regularly. One day the opposition will gain ground, the next day Gaddafi forces will push them back. The civilian populations in towns like Ajdabiya have been caught in the fighting and insecurity for weeks now.

The displaced families that have come to Albethan are living in schools, unfinished houses, abandoned old buildings and, in some cases, makeshift tents in the desert surrounding the village. Most are waiting for the fighting to move far away from their homes so they can return safely.

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A bombed home in Ajdabiya, Libya. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

I drove from Benghazi to Ajdabiya yesterday to assess the humanitarian situation in the town after Gaddafi forces advanced a few days ago and pushed the frontline fighting to the western gate of the city. Ajdabiya is about 100 miles from Benghazi. Under normal circumstances it would take about 1.5 hours to get there, but the situation here in Libya is far from normal.

After more than six weeks of fighting since the uprising began, the strains on the Opposition’s resources are starting to appear. Fuel for cars appears is difficult to find in villages outside of Benghazi. Along the way we looked for fuel, but passed gas station after station that turned us away explaining their tanks were empty. Finally we found a station that had fuel, but their electricity was out so their pumps didn’t work. After a long wait and some serious arm-twisting, the station manger found a generator to run the pumps. As soon as we started fueling our car, other cars on the road saw us getting fuel and quickly descended on the station for fuel. By the time we pulled away there was a line of about 20 cars waiting to get fuel.

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Nagla standing on the rooftop, the one small room where she lives with her family in the background. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

High above Tahrir Square, 33-year-old Nagla Abdad watched the January 25th Revolution unfold. She had one of the best seats in the house for the first time in her life.

“I have lived on this rooftop since I was four years old,” she explains. “We can’t afford rent, so my father acts as a guard for the apartment building, and in exchange we get one small room on the roof to live.”

Nagla, her brother and her parents all share a single room that was originally meant for storage space. They don’t have running water or a toilet on the roof, so they have to go down six flights of stairs to use the public washroom in the building lobby.

Nagla is just one of the millions of people in Egypt who struggle daily to meet their basic needs. Twenty percent of the population of Egypt lives under the poverty line.

The protestors in Tahrir Square who successfully ousted President Mubarak from rule called for democracy and fair elections, but much of the a large percentage of the protestors had less lofty goals.

“With a new government, I want the price of food to go down,” says Nagla. “And we want an end to the corruption and abuse by the police. “

Nagla's father in their one-room rooftop home, which also serves as storage for the building. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

For decades, the people of Egypt have lived under a system that granted favors and huge advantage to a select few, while excluding the majority of the population from economic opportunities, basic services and rights.

Now, after the fall of the Mubarak regime, many of the people who have lived on the margins of society are excited about their future, but still have a long way to go before they can fully participate in a democratic society with rights as well as responsibilities.

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An overview of Garbage City, a slum on the outskirts of Egypt's capital, Cairo. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

I recently visited Garbage City, a slum at the base of Mokkatam Hill on the outskirts of Cairo. Its economy revolves around the collection and recycling of the city's garbage. The Zabbaleen community (garbage collectors) in Mokkatam Village has a population of around 30,000, over 90 percent of which are Coptic Christians.

The city's garbage is brought to Mokkatam Hill by the Zabbaleen people who sort through the garbage to retrieve recyclable items. As I walked down the narrow dirt streets in the village, I saw large rooms stacked with garbage with men, women or children crouching and sorting the garbage into unsellable or sellable piles. Families typically specialize in a particular type of garbage they sort and sell: one room of children sorting out plastic bottles, while the next of women separating cans from the rest. Anything that can be reused or recycled is saved, sold or recycled. Carts pulled by horse or donkey are often stacked more than 10 feet high with rubbish and recyclable goods.

Two young Zabbaleen girls in Garbage City, a slum at the base of Mokkatam Hill on the outskirts of Cairo. Its economy revolves around the collection and recycling of the city's garbage. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Most families typically work very hard in difficult conditions, but they manage to eke out enough money to support themselves from selling the sorted garbage and recyclables. Despite the hard life, the Zabaleen people have a lot of pride and dignity.

"We have been living here for years doing this,” says Adham Refaat, a young man from the community. “Our work is critical for the city. Without us Cairo would drown in garbage.”

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Reham, who had never voted before last weekend's referendum in Egypt, looks at the voter card. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Just a few weeks ago I was in Cairo's Tahrir Square as the Egyptian people demanded their right to freedom and democracy. This weekend I had the opportunity to witness Egypt’s first steps towards the people’s long-awaited dream.

Egypt held its first free and fair election: a referendum that called for voters to either accept or reject eight constitutional amendments meant to establish the foundations for coming elections.

Throughout Egypt, people waited in long lines on Saturday to vote. In Cairo, people waited for more than three hours to cast their votes. Many said they were voting for the first time in their lives.

Reham casts her ballot. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Reham, a 27-year old banker who was a protestor just a few weeks ago in Tahrir Square, told me she had never voted prior to this referendum.

“Before I never bothered voting. It was so corrupt there was no reason to,” she told me as she waited patiently for her chance to vote.

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The youth focus group we met with in Benghazi before we left Benghazi. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Yesterday we had to temporarily leave Benghazi and move west to Tubruq, as the front line fighting between the opposition and government troops slipped back and moved closer to us. On Sunday morning, all the phone lines were shut down — including our local Libyan cell phones. We had strong concerns that a strike on Benghazi may follow soon. Most of the other aid groups working in Benghazi — as well as some of the international media teams — moved back as well, due to security concerns.

Prior to our departure, Mercy Corps held a youth focus group to discuss the hopes and aspirations of the youth for Libya. The participants cited desires for better infrastructure, education and research opportunities, jobs, and freedom. Human rights were also a major concern. They noted they had never had the chance to organise themselves into any formal groups or organisations before because they were forbidden. They also noted they had no experience or previous opportunity for calling for change or influencing their government.

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