Dear John, My name is Mary-Sanyu, and I work in Melkadida Refugee Camp in Ethiopia with Johannes and William, who you have already heard from recently. After their emails explaining the reasons why food insecurity is such a huge issue here, I wanted to tell you about someone I know, and what extreme hunger looks like in real life. Geberow is a 38-year-old grandmother from Somalia. She left the country in 2011 because of political instability, threats of violence from the militant group Al-Shabaab and severe drought. She has lived in Kobe Refugee Camp in Ethiopia, working as a food seller, ever since. She tells us how the drought in Ethiopia affected her family. Geberow said: “The drought is so severe. Everything is expensive. The food has been cut, it’s not enough. The amount each family receives only stretches to the middle of the month.” “Three of my grandchildren were admitted to a nutrition programme where they were receiving Plumpy’Nut, (a peanut-based therapeutic food designed to treat extreme malnourishment) because they were so severely underweight.” UNHCR was able to help Geberow and her family with vital cash assistance while her husband was away visiting his mother. By providing Geberow with cash, it meant that she was immediately able to go to the market and choose the food she needed to look after her family. Cash assistance is one of the fastest, most effective ways to support refugees. It gives people the dignity of choosing how to spend their money, and also helps the local economy too.
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