Supporter: Cassandra Nelson

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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Fifteen-year-old Mayol Dau started a cell phone business, with help from Mercy Corps, to help his family buy food. Now he's also using the money to pay for school fees to further his studies. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Mayol Dau is 15 years old and is an entrepreneur in Aweng, Twic County. Twic County is a remote area of South Sudan that has no paved roads and very little infrastructure, but that has not slowed down the business instincts of this teenage boy.

During the civil war between north and south Sudan, he lived in the north for 11 years. He left his home in the south when he was too young to remember it. Mayol returned to Twic with his family in 2005, when the peace agreement was signed and the bloody civil war ended.

When they returned back to the south the situation was very difficult.

“We didn’t have a house and lived in a camp for returnees,” recalls Mayol. “We didn’t have enough to eat most days and there was no school when I first came.”

He started a business in 2006 to help his family get money to buy food. He does three things: credit card transfers over the phone, repair of mobile phones and recharging of mobile phone batteries. Mercy Corps assisted him in starting his business as part of its micro-enterprise programme.

Mayol Dau does three things in his shop: credit card transfers over the phone, repair of mobile phones and recharging of mobile phone batteries. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

“Mercy Corps helped me with money to buy the locking cabinet for my phones and they provided a generator so I could charge the phones,” explains Mayol. “Now my business is good. I make 70 Sudanese pounds (about £16) a day. I use the profit for food and to pay my school fees.”

Mayol’s cousin works at the shop while Mayol goes to school in the day. In the afternoon, Mayol works in the store until evening and then studies before going to bed.

He is filled with hope for the future, and plans on being a doctor when he is older.

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Achol Ngong Chan and a few of her children, outside their makeshift shelter in a displacement camp near Agok, Sudan. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

In late May, the Sudanese Army invaded the contested border area of Abyei with tanks and heavy weapons. More than 110,000 residents had to flee their homes in Abyei to escape the violent fighting.

Achol Ngong Chan, the mother of five children, escaped Abyei but was forced to leave everything behind.

“When we had to run away, it was with great suffering,” she recalls. “We left by footing [walking]. We walked for two days before we reached this place.”

Achol could not carry anything with her. She and her husband had to help the children walk the long distance, so they traveled with only the clothes on their backs, and carried the smallest children.

When they arrived in Agok, along with thousands of other displaced families, they had nowhere to sleep and no food to eat.

Achol, her husband and their five children had to walk two days before reaching this displacement camp. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

“We spent the first several nights sleeping under the trees,” explained Achol. “It was very hard, especially when it rained. We were very happy when we received this plastic sheeting and some supplies so we could be more comfortable.

Mercy Corps, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), were able to respond the crisis immediately and provide plastic sheeting for temporary shelter and other basic items. But the needs are still tremendous as the conflict is not resolved — well over 100,000 people remain displaced and in need of continuing assistance.

Achol used her plastic sheet to construct a sturdy hut that she now lives in with her family, but they are struggling to find enough food to eat.

“Since last night, we have had nothing to eat,” she says. “This morning I told my children and their father to go look for firewood to sell. We are just searching for something to eat.”

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After years spent displaced during Sudan's long civil war, 20-year-old Alfonse Pawil is now enrolled in a Mercy Corps-sponsored computer training course in Turalei, his hometown. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Alfonse Pawil, 20 years old, spent most of his life in a war zone. He was born in Turalei, South Sudan in the midst of the two-decade long bloody civil war that devastated his homeland.

Many families left Sudan during the war and lived as refugees in other countries that were secure, but Alfonse’s family did not have resources to move away. Instead, he spent his entire childhood running.

“I never left Sudan. I have been here from the time of war up to now,” explained Alfonse. “It was terrible. Some of my relatives were killed, but somehow I survived. I was one of the people running up and down the country during the time of war always trying to get away from the bombs.

“During the war when they were bombing, we would hide in the bush until they left the area. Sometimes I was hiding in the bush for weeks and even months waiting for it to be safe to come out.”

The war made it almost impossible to study, but Alfonse never gave up his commitment to getting an education.

“The few schools in the area could not remain open because of the fighting, so I walked for several days to reach the town of Wau where I could take my exams,” recalled Alfonse. “I completed my exams and took the Sudan certificate for my studies.”

The exterior of the Mercy Corps Civil Society Resource Centre where Alfonse studies in Turalei. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Today, Alfonse is living in Turalei with his family and trying to prepare to find a job as a teacher or humanitarian worker.

“Getting a job here is very hard, especially if you are like me and never left the country,” says Alfonse. “My peers who lived in Kenya and other countries had the chance to take computer classes, but people like me who stayed here during the war, have never had a chance to learn about computers.”

Alfonse has enrolled in Mercy Corps computer training programme that is offered through the Civil Society Resource Centre the organisation built in Turalei. Mercy Corps built and operates 11 Civil Society Resource Centers in Sudan that are equipped with computer labs and training, internet access, libraries and audiovisual materials. The centers are used by local organisations for outreach activities and to facilitate dialogues with the local government.

“Now I think my future will be bright because now I have the opportunity to learn about computers and prepare myself for a job and a better life,” says Alfonse.

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