(ERGO) – Mohamud Yusuf Hassan and his family, with four malnourished children, were relieved to be given enough food by a local NGO for them to cook two meals a day during the month of Ramadan.
Mohamed told Radio Ergo he received 25 kg of rice, sugar, flour, and four litres of cooking oil from Somalia Community Care Organisation (SOCCO). They had been struggling to eat once in a day in Farawayne camp in Mogadishu’s Deynile district.
“This food has really made a difference to our lives. It’s been very difficult. We are now doing better and we thank the organisation for the food,” he said.
Four of his children below the age of 10 were diagnosed with malnutrition in February at Banadir Hospital. Mohamud could not afford to buy the recommended nutritious food they needed.
He says they are looking healthier now and he is no longer worried about food at least for this month.
Mohamud and his family lived in Wanlaweyn, Lower Shabelle, where they fled in December after losing their 90 goats and 25 cows. This was the first time they have been internally displaced and he described it as the most difficult time for his family.
He earns casual income carrying goods on a handcart. However, even if he makes 30,000 shillings ($1.25) from a day’s work, he can only afford to put food on the table once a day.
“We have received some donations from organisations and Muslim people. I am trying to save from my income from work now so we can have some savings to help us when the food aid finishes,” he said.
Hassan Guled Mayow, a father of three, has been living in Dan-yar camp for six months. He received 20 kg each of rice, flour, sugar and three litres of oil from SOCCO.
Hassan prepares rocks for construction earning about $3 a day, although the physically demanding work has been suspended during Ramadan.
He is still stressed about the loss of his wife, who died in February due to anaemia. Hassan was unable to pay for her treatment. He now lives with his three small children, the oldest just three years old.
The family moved to Mogadishu in November from Balad in Middle Shabelle after losing their 89 goats to the drought.
SOCCO chairman, Aseyr Hassan Mohamed, said they conducted a survey in 38 camps in Mogadishu and found that 66 people, including 26 children, had died of malnutrition.
The food was distributed to nearly 5,000 urban poor and displaced households, including 700 families who recently arrived in the camps.
He recognised that the food aid was only a short-term contribution.
“We have given out the food aid for the families to break their fast and also to eat at night. The food is enough to last the families through this month of fasting,” he said.
