Hello, hello! Welcome to Garowe, where we will be spending the next few days. Garowe is both the capital of Somalia’s Nugaal region and administrative capital of the state of Puntland in Northeastern Somalia. Garowe is a relatively small city surrounded by small farms. We thought this would be the perfect opportunity to work with some farmers who live not too far from our offices. We started our stay in Garowe by meeting with two men from the local farming union association, Hassan and Abdi. Hassan told us a bit more about the background of the organization and farming in the region. “As soon as the fighting started in the South in 1991, people started coming back to Puntland, a region that many of us consider to be the breadbasket of Somalia. We saw that there were farmers sporadically, but no way that they were really brought together, so we decided to start the union in 1996. Since then, we’ve been able to connect farmers to trainings and other resources.” Hassan and … [Read more...] about Pumped Up
Archives for January 2020
Here We Goat Again
It’s our fourth and final day in Salaxley. The people of Salaxley have been through a lot, but in our time visiting, they have been so open and welcoming. We’re spending our last day with Asad. Asad is a 45-year-old father of six who has been a farmer for as long as he can remember. Before the drought, the farming market was strong in the region. His whole livelihood was based around farming, and he was proud to sell the foods he was able to produce. He felt able to stand out in the community. But for the past couple of years, life has been particularly tough. With the ongoing drought, he struggles to provide for his family. And despite the recent substantial rainfall, which damaged part of his home and farm, he remains hopeful. And a set of new goats are helping! After every hardship, he believes joy will follow. Asad told us, “it feels surreal that an individual like myself would receive four goats, and I am so grateful for all you have done to support me.” If … [Read more...] about Here We Goat Again
A New Hope
Hello, hello! It’s our third day in Salaxley, an IDP camp just outside of Hargeisa, Somalia. Even though the residents of Salaxley have been through many hardships, we’ve seen so much abundance and generosity throughout our time here. Today, we’re with Cusub Abdi, a 56-year-old farmer living in the camp. As she told us, “working on the farm reminds me of my father. I used to help him, and he taught me everything I know. Life was beautiful before the famine. All of the skills my father taught me meant that I was able to provide for my family.” But after losing all of her livestock, she had no choice but to move around to the nearest pastoral areas to find a better life for her family. Cusub and her family were forced to move from place to place, but she finally feels like she can call Salaxley home. “I had over 200 goats and sheep, but after the famine, I lost all of them,” she explained. But these new goats for Cusab Abdi signal a new hope. “Even though I lost everything,” … [Read more...] about A New Hope
Abdi & Abdi
Welcome to Day Two in Salaxley, an internally displaced persons camp, just outside of the city of Hargeisa in Somalia. The families living in Salaxley are among some of the most vulnerable people in this part of the country. As drought and flooding have displaced many of the region’s farmers, many families have lost their livelihood and ability to sustain themselves. Today, we’re meeting with two men named Abdi, who live in the camp and used to be farmers. When we spoke with Abdi Ahmed, he told us, “giving a person four goats might seem small, but to me, it’s like being given the gift of life, as I feel like I have been given a second chance to restart my life and now I can provide for my family." Abdi Mohamed had a similar reaction. He mentioned to the team, “When I was informed that I was receiving four goats, it felt so strange. I had endured so much hardship since such a young age—all we had had was our farm growing up, but after the prolonged rainy season and then … [Read more...] about Abdi & Abdi
We’ve Goat Your Back
Hello, hello! Although we’ve left behind the city of Hargeisa and the handful of lovely and hardworking entrepreneurs, we haven’t strayed too far from the city. We’re in Salaxley, an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, about an hour outside of Hargeisa. Recurrent drought and food insecurity have pushed people out of their homes and into this camp. Many of the people living in Salaxley were farmers who lost their livestock during the drought, or whose crops were swept away during the prolonged rainy season and intense flooding. When trying to figure out what we could do to help the members of the Salaxley community, goats and sheep came up over and over again. So, we’ve selected some individuals who could most benefit from new livestock. That first person is Maryama—Maryama is a 59-year-old single mother with four children who depend on her. Maryama burst into tears after our team members told her she had been selected to receive four goats from Changemakers 365 … [Read more...] about We’ve Goat Your Back
Welcome to the Neighborhood
We’ve finished working with a handful of Yemeni refugee entrepreneurs—Ikran, Abdalla, Badriya, Fartun and Muna—but we’re still in Hargeisa for one last day. And today, we met Jamal. Jamal is a Syrian refugee living and working in Hargeisa, close to their international airport. He has a small shop, with food and other supplies, much of which is comforting and familiar to other Syrians living in the city. The shop is equally appealing to Somali clientele, for its large variety of items. Jamal arrived in Hargeisa about five years ago and has been trying to make things work in the city that’s become his new home. He opened his shop just a few months ago, and it’s been doing well, but he’s also been feeling the steep cost of rent for a shop on a main thoroughfare. It’s especially pricy to restock the items he sells that aren’t produced domestically. So, we helped Jamal make sure he could keep his shop open for a few more months by helping him pay the rent and restock a few … [Read more...] about Welcome to the Neighborhood
Marvelous Materials
Hello, hello, and welcome back to another day in Hargeisa. We’re working with Muna, a talented Yemeni refugee entrepreneur. Muna specializes in making dresses for special occasions and other big events. Because she was trained in Yemen, she uses fabrics that are rather hard to come across in Somalia. Still, her designs are widely popular when it comes to dressing up for weddings, graduations, and the like. This offers Muna a unique opportunity, as she’s found there’s a high demand for the skills she has, something that many others don’t. We were able to pick out a sewing machine with Muna yesterday, but it’s difficult to sew a new dress when you don’t have the fabric you need! So, today, we worked with Muna to help her order some specialty fabric from Yemen. Despite the ongoing war in Yemen, ships frequently pass across the Gulf of Aden, hauling goods between Yemen and Somalia. We made sure to get some of that specialized fabric on the next ship to get Muna working on … [Read more...] about Marvelous Materials
Sew Much to Do
We’ve got just a couple of days left in Hargeisa, and we’re doing our best to make the most of them. For the next few days, we’ll be with Muna, a talented seamstress. Muna's pretty new to the neighborhood. She arrived in Hargeisa about a year and a half ago with her two young children and husband. Recently, she gave birth to another daughter, too. As as the family grows, Muna and her husband are finding out how to best provide for her their family. They have registered with the UN refugee agency as refugees, but they haven’t been able to receive support from another NGO that provides start-up funds because they can’t afford the transportation to visit that NGO. Without startup funds to purchase a sewing machine of her own, Muna has been borrowing her neighbor’s machine to work on projects to sell. Muna has the skills to run her own tailoring business, but she lacks the resources. So today, she picked out her own sewing machine that she would be able to use to keep her … [Read more...] about Sew Much to Do
Keeping the Shop Open
It’s a third and final day with Fartun, a Yemeni shop owner with the widest smile and warmest heart on the block. Fartun has been displaced from her home a number of times now—first, when she was forced to return to Yemen after living in Mogadishu, and then again when war broke out in Yemen. She’s finally feeling like she can breathe freely and relax in her new home of Hargeisa. Fartun’s feeling confident that this will be her forever home, especially now that she’s opened up her own beauty shop. But running a shop comes with steep costs—especially rent. Fartun’s shop is on a major street in her neighborhood. This prime location is one of the main reasons she’s able to sell as much as she is, but also one of the reasons that rent is so high. To lend her a hand and make sure that she can keep her op open for longer, we’re helping cover rent for the next few months. This way, Fartun will be able to try to sell her new items and try out innovative business strategies, all … [Read more...] about Keeping the Shop Open
Glamorous Gals
Hello, hello! And welcome back to Hargeisa and another day with Fartun, a Yemeni shop owner whose fate has sent her back and forth between Somalia and Yemen. Yesterday, we spent the day with Fartun, helping her buy beauty supplies that she would be able to sell in her shop. Today, we’re tackling another problem she had. Fartun had been selling a little bit of clothes out of her shop, but she wanted to be able to sell more. But she could never quite get enough capital to buy the clothes she would need to in bulk, so she couldn’t expand the store how she wanted to. So, we’re taking her out to buy clothes that she’ll be able to sell in her shop. The biggest component of this was fabric for a dirah, a popular, colorful dress that woman wore around Hargeisa. In some cases, the colorful dirah is layered under a black or brown abbaya, and in other cases, it’s layered with a cardigan and scarf. In any case, dirahs are all over Hargeisa, and this was a great opportunity of … [Read more...] about Glamorous Gals