The African Horn region has been linked with images of hunger, of children whose skin adheres to their bones, of numerous animals dying in masses around water wells and oases in the vast desert after reaching them as well as being a zone of political turmoil, particularly in Somalia. Kenya, Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti are all part of the Horn of Africa region. Somalia and Kenya are suffering from the world's worst drought and famine.
Kenya, in particular, is experiencing the fourth season without rain, endangering the lives of humans, plants, and animals with a deadly drought. According to Vernor Soltinck, UNICEF's representative in Kenya, 100,000 children under the age of five will require treatment due to the drought and severe malnutrition, and more than 180,000 children will no longer attend school due to the drought since families are constantly moving in search of water and livelihood sources. 
Shaghaf's team went to Kenya last year on an exploratory mission to gain insight into the current situation and to learn of people’s need for support, to listen to them, write down their requests, and deliver suitable solutions. The team is additionally working on a particular donation campaign for Kenya to allow the organization's first official mission in Kenya.
This paper addresses the requirements identified by Shaghaf's team in Kenya, with Hasan Ziod and Yasmin Watad, Shaghaf's founders, participating. Yasmin shares her experiences and highlights people's suffering in a country of stern desert and extreme drought.

A journey of tens of kilometers to drink water 
Due to the geographical distance and the lack of media coverage of issues of hunger and drought in Africa, there is a prevalent belief that such a drought occurs in a parallel world to ours. Therefore, it was critical for Shaghaf’s team to be on the ground as the people and to live their reality to recruit the necessary resources and needs based on people's urgencies. During a chat with Yasmin Watad, she shared her knowledge and expertise, saying:
“We were on a scouting mission to remote villages in northern Kenya near the Somali border in an area called Garissa, which is close to the Tana River, the nearest source of water to neighboring villages. The villages are a disproportionate distance away. During our visit, our aim was to carry out an exploratory tour about the water’s quality, how people get water, and how far they travel to get water. We were accompanied by an expert to test the water’s quality and to discover the diseases people suffer from as a result of consuming this water, such as severe diarrhea that leads to death, cholera, and more”, she added, “we decided to go through the journey of bringing water to the homes with those responsible for it. There, we learned that this responsibility lies with the children as they walk tens of kilometers daily to fetch water for their thatched houses”. 
On experiencing the journey of getting water Yasmin says: “We walked five kilometers with them on the way and five kilometers back. During their voyage back and forth, children face several challenges. For me, the heat was excruciating. It was one of the most difficult times in my life exposed to the sun and heat. There is also the difficulty of the path itself as there is no paved or clear road. We were walking among dry trees, during which we observed dead cattle on the sides of the road. We even walked through dead bodies of donkeys, cows, and camels.”

Filthy, but necessary, water resources:

With the enormous demand for water, a basic human necessity, children crossing the road every day seek out methods to make the trip somewhat easier than it is. Yasmin Watad describes her experience, saying: “The children who accompanied us were 10-12 years old. Children put two jerry cans inside one another and tie them together with a metal wire to make it less challenging for them to maneuver after filling the jerry can with water”. She explains children’s attire and method of filling water, saying: “Most children don’t own a pair of shoes; they walk the entire distance barefoot. Few of the girls kept trading the same pair of shoes as they went, each girl using them for a certain amount of time. For me, who was equipped with the comfort of sports shoes and clean water, it was peculiar and unsettling that children made this trip not once, but twice a day, meaning that they travel 20 kilometers daily to gather water. This water serves every purpose. When we arrived at the river, we saw animals and people drinking from it and others washing their clothes in it. The water was brown due to the excrement and dirt in it”.

Absence of international institutions and assistance: 

International institutions are not consistently present in remote villages, making it more difficult for communities living there to cater their needs and tackle their issues. One of the reasons that prompted our organization to stay there for a long period of time is to study the situation thoroughly and provide the necessities persistently. Yasmin, on the role of international institutions says: 
“While there, I did not see institutions that are permanently present. Some used to come for a specific mission and then leave without following-up on the situation. for example, they came to build a mosque or dig wells in the area without returning to inspect them (if the well had dried up or its water got contaminated). As such, we launched the current donation campaign for Kenya with the intention to provide solutions and pursue them at the needed pace and address the unfulfilled needs of the area”. 

Tremendous need and constant absence 
Given the absence of institutional presence and media coverage in these areas, Shaghaf's current mission seeks to fulfill some of the area's necessities while simultaneously increasing awareness of the difficulties faced by people living in remote locations. Our goal is to be permanently present while maintaining contact with local communities to guarantee that concrete requirements are me. Following this, Yasmin says: 
“The issue is more than simply the drought. Drought causes starvation, livestock and livelihood loss, a lack of access to safe water, and an absence of an educational sphere. The typical stages of life that we go through from school to college to having a job are missing. There is an atmosphere that the area belongs to the Middle Ages, where the only available livelihood sources are ranching and coal production as they make coal from trees”, she adds, “what is more, some children feared the presence of strangers, and for some, it was their first time seeing a different skin-toned person”. 
Yasmin, regarding the roles of men, says: “Men’s part in such locales is cutting wood and traveling to the city by cart and donkey. If this trip takes an hour and a half to nearly two hours by a car, one can image the strain of it by riding animals. The men stay in the city for a couple of weeks to sell coal and return with some earnings”, she continues, “there are no supermarkets, for example, to get groceries in these villages. Communities rely entirely on product harvest and cattle, resources that have become sparse and nearly non-existent due to the drought”.  

Maisaa Mansour

Blogs date 20 Aug