Friday, August 19, 2011
Muslim refugees in Dadaab, arguing that UN aid and investment in the refugee camps are insufficient, asked Turkey and other Muslim nation members of the UN to investigate the fate of UN aid and, if necessary, to send a representative to take part in the distribution of relief, the Anatolia news agency reported on Thursday.
Although they have fully appreciated the aid from Turkey thus far, Somali refugees are still having problems educating their children. “We are giving lessons to our children in huts that we made with tree branches under the scorching sun. The existing mosques in Dadaab are inadequate,” refugees told Anatolia, claiming that building a few new mosques would eliminate the problem. Building a new hospital and a new school would demonstrate not only Turkey's greatness but also its love for the Somali people.
Refugees, whose children currently receive education in English and the Quran, want Turkey to open vocational schools in the area and send teachers to teach their professions to their children.
Construction work is continuing on vocational high schools planned by the UN in the region.
Anatolia reporters spoke with refugees visiting the Hagadera Hospital, established by the Kenya International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Dadaab on the Somali-Kenyan border. The patients waited for quite a long time both at the door and for treatment.
“I have looked at 20 patients in the last few hours, and there are hundreds more waiting to be examined outside,” one optician told an Anatolia reporter.
According to the results of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation's (İHH) “Cataract Project” in the region, a child goes blind every minute in the world and every five seconds in Third World countries. The İHH report found that in countries in the Sub-Saharan belt, especially in Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, there is on average one doctor to every 40,000 people, and millions of people in these countries live their lives without ever consulting a doctor.
Kimse Yok Mu sends more aid
Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu, continuing its leadership role in the humanitarian campaign in East Africa, will send a ship carrying 3,700 tons of aid to the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Aug. 21. Kimse Yok Mu has distributed 9,500 food packages to families in need, and 1,000 families were provided meat. Throughout Ramadan, four soup kitchens are serving hot meals to 12,000 families, or 72,000 people total, per day.
Source: Today's Zaman