KENYA: When a cow is part of the family

[Forkboy]

MANDERA/WAJIR, 28 July 2011 (IRIN) - In his village, Kiliwehiri in northeastern Kenya, Abdullah Mohamed is known as "that mentally disturbed man".

"It is difficult to be normal after you have watched your entire life's savings get wiped out before your eyes," said Ibrahim Abdi, assistant chief of the village. "We are Somalis, we look after each other," explained Abdi, so the village shares their rations with Mohamed's family.

A month ago, Mohamed was just another pastoralist battling soaring temperatures and drought in the arid Mandera district - identified by the UN, with other parts of the Horn of Africa, as just one step away from famine on a five-point scale. It has not rained in his village for more than a year.

Over 10 days, Mohamed watched 40 of his cattle collapse and die - one by one - as they waited their turn at a water-point along the border between southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya, a few kilometres from his village.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93353

[cbayer]

1. K & R

The stories coming out of the Horn of Africa right now are horrific. My daughter is doing some work with refugees in Kenya and I will be going there in November. It was to be a sightseeing vacation, but I am now investigating opportunities to do volunteer work while there. I just can not in good conscious take this as a pleasure trip.

Thanks for sharing this story.

[Forkboy]

2. Thanks go to your daughter, that is very cool.

And thank you for rethinking your own travel plans while there. I wish I could go with you and help somehow. I feel like a downer posting this stuff every day but, sadly, that's about all I can do.

[cbayer]

3. I think by posting this you are doing a wonderful thing.

These people in these places are all too easy to ignore. Kudos to you for bringing the stories in.

:toast:

[Forkboy]

5. Thank you, I appreciate that.

Here's a great site for news from that region (and others).

http://www.irinnews.org/

[Lorien]

4. A sad K & R

Climate change is making extreme conditions even more so. If ever there was a time to invest in new technologies for energy and water collection and/ or desalination, it is now!