“7K”  IDP  Camp,  Afgooye  Corridor,  Mogadishu,  Somalia,  June  2014  

Case  Study:  Maey  Omar  

Program:  Emergency  Cash  Transfers  and  WASH,  Mogadishu,  Somalia    

Author:  Crystal  Wells  

 

Maey  Omar,  40,  does  not  know  if  her  husband  is  alive  or  dead.  

Back  in  March,  the  joint-­‐African  force  AMISOM  and  Somali  government  forces  pushed  their  way  through  cities  and  towns  in  southern  Somalia  in  an  offensive  against  Al  Shabaab.  When  conflict  reached   Qoryooley,   a   town   in   Lower   Shabelle   where   Maey   and   her   family   lived,   people  scattered.    

There  was  no  sign  of  her  husband,  so  Maey  and  her  six  children  set  off  for  the  relative  safety  of  the  capital,  Mogadishu,  walking  some  120  kilometers  from  town  to  town  northward.  She  made  much  of  the  journey  with  her  six-­‐year-­‐old  son,  Nour,  who  is  mentally  and  physically  disabled,  on  her  back.    

They  eventually  settled  alongside  thousands  of  other  families  at  the  seven-­‐kilometer  marker  of  the   infamous   Afgooye   corridor,   the   road   linking   Mogadishu   to   Afgooye,   a   town   in   Lower  

Shabelle  in  southeastern  Somalia.  “I  knew  no  one  [in  Mogadishu],”  she  says.  “We  were  resting  under  a  tree  on  the  roadside  and  someone  approached  us  and  said  that  we  could  come  here.”  

 

Living  under  a  makeshift,  dome-­‐shaped  shelter  in  the  displacement  camp,  known  as  ‘K7,’  Maey  now  receives  a  monthly  cash  allowance  of  $93  from  Concern  with  funding  from  the  European  Commission  (ECHO),  but  she  says  that  it’s  not  enough.  “It  covers  food,  but  we  need  more  than  that,”  she  explains,  pointing  out  that  they  need  to  buy  shelter  materials.  

In  addition  to  financial  support,  Concern  also  built  water  points  in  K7,  shortening  the  distances  families  had  to  travel  to  collect  safe  drinking  water,  as  well  as  latrines.    

Before  coming   to  Mogadishu,  Maey  was  preparing  her  20  hectares   land   for  planting   sesame,  corn,  and  beans  before  the  conflict  enveloped  her  area.  She  says  that  even  if  she  had  stayed,  the  crops  probably  would  not  have  grown  because  of  there  was  not  enough  rain.  Her  town  now  deserted,  Maey  has  no  plans  to  bring  her  family  back  to  Qoryooley.  “There’s  nowhere  to  go,“  she  says.  “I  prefer  to  stay  here  because  at  least  there  is  support.”  

Photos:  First:  Maey  Omar,  40,  sits  in  her  shelter  in  a  displacement  camp  known  as  “K7”  on  the  Afgooye   cooridor   with   her   six-­‐year-­‐old   son,   Nour,   who   is   mentally   and   physically   disabled.  Credit:   Kieran   McConville/Concern   Worldwide;   Second:   Concern   Worldwide   is   providing  

emergency   cash   transfers,   latrines,   and   safe   drinking   water   in   displacement   camps   on   the  infamous   Afgooye   cooridor,   the   road   connecting   Mogadishu   to   Afgooye.   Credit:   Kieran  McConville/Concern  Worldwide