Stories
“We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to Somalia, connect with our local team, travel to the areas that we will be working in, and get accurate data and stories about what the people are going through, their experiences, needs, and hopes.” – IIDF Canada Team
In 2021, and in the context of the global Coronavirus pandemic, a group of the IIDF Canada team travelled to Somalia, to the Galmudug region. IIDF was recently granted Charitable Status with the Canadian government and thus was ready to ramp up the practical work that would lead to real results for those in need.
The purpose of this trip was severalfold. First was to build capacity with the local IIDF team who had already begun to reach the towns and communities with greatest need so that IIDF could effectively prioritize efforts on the ground. As well was to get an accurate sense of how long and costly transporting people and materials would be as part of determining resources required for success with the charitable activities. Most importantly was to directly see the situation at hand for the local people who our charity is intended to serve.
What we found truly broke our hearts, and at the same time inspired us with gratitude and determination to bring about real results rather than simply offer lip-service or an outsider’s perspective on what would be best. As we travelled across the Galmudug region, which is where most of the IIDF team comes from, we met people with incredible resilience and happiness despite the harrowing lack of access to the basics of life. From broken, dirty wells to crops and produce destroyed by locusts, the communities we saw were living at the edge of total poverty.
There is no doubt that the roots of the issues affecting Somalia are systemic, widespread, and influenced by both internal and external forces in regards to politics and international aid. There is also no doubt that those who suffer the consequences most are everyday people with little to no agency and limited capacity to lift themselves up out of their circumstances. We of IIDF are also humbly aware that our own capacities are limited and that as much as we would like to change everyone’s lives for the better right now, this is simply not possible.
What we can do though, is ensure that we are offering meaningful, evidence-based, and community-driven support at the family or hyperlocal level. With integrity, good will, and hopefully your donation, IIDF and the communities of Somalia will be able to build and experience a better future for themselves.
Here are a few stories of those that we met who moved us with their perseverance, and with the pressing need for change. Please take a look below – we want to show you how we can make change with simple efforts and also how we need support not only for communities and families but for individuals as well.
The work required is great and we will continue to do what we can for as long as we can.
inshaAllah.
Electric Wheelchair for a Young Girl
This is Ajaeeb, a young, bright, and vibrant girl with a beautiful smile and shy personality. We met her and her mother and they told us the story of how Ajaeeb has been struggling with mobility her entire life. Born with dysmorphia of all her limbs, Ajaeeb is in major need of an electric wheelchair to facilitate her movement and ability to access more of life’s experiences. Currently, she moves around through sheer determination although it is clearly painful for her to do so.
Though she previously went to school, Ajaeeb had to stop because her old wheelchair broke and without it there was no reasonable way for her to get to and spend the day in school. We are working to find a used mechanical wheelchair that can be sent to her, but what is really needed is an electric wheelchair that facilitates movement according to her needs. With your support, we are looking forward to the day when we can send you a follow-up note with the great news that this is officially a success story and that Ajaeeb’s life is truly changed for the better.
The estimated cost of a new
electric wheelchair is $3000 CAD
Please,
A Private Access Bathroom for New Mothers
Meet Sumaya, a trained midwife who moved from the big city after graduating to work as part of a government program for bringing health professionals to underserved parts of the country. Although her contract has completed, she has not been paid and yet continues to stay for the sake of the community. As if this was not bad enough, when Sumaya gave us a tour of the maternity ward where she delivers babies with only the help of two local volunteer apprentices, we saw that there is no nearby bathroom for the pregnant mothers to use after giving birth.
The walk from the maternity room to the bathroom outside is long and requires leaving the private room to be exposed outside. This is a painful and undignified situation for the new mothers, but no other choice is currently available. As you can see in the video, a simple and cleaner solution would be to build the bathroom directly outside the maternity room – and the construction is relatively simple and inexpensive. With the hospital already under supplied and under-staffed, this seemingly small change would make a big difference for the birth experience and require less cleanup and maintenance of the hospital by the workers.
If you would like to support the
hospital with the costs of supplies
Please,
The estimated cost of the
bathroom is $1600 CAD
Paid for by IIDF Canada team
