(no subject)
Another committee, led by Adan Hussein, set up an orphanage in a bombed-out library in the centre of town. Adan's committee went around to the feeding centres in the city gathering up orphaned children who had little chance of survival without adult help. I asked Adan to go to Hawina to get Ali and other orphans. Unlike us, Adan had no guards. Many committee members were shot, beaten or robbed by gangs and militias. Still, Adan's group collected as many orphans as it could. By the end of October, his group was caring for over 350 children. I asked Adan why he did what he did. After a long pause, he answeres, "They are seeds for tomorrow's Somalia. Tomorrow's Somalia will be better--it must be. We want them to care for each other, so we must care for them today."
Jules--just back from the former Yugoslavia, where Bosnian Muslims were being slaughtered by President Milosevic's Serbs--came to see the situation in Baidoa for himself. He spent most of his time with Dana working on security and political issues, but he urged me to do more to support the informal local relief committees. A women's group took him to an orphanage that had been set up in an abandoned school. The group had some thirty infants, and most if not all of them would be dead in a week without medical care. The women wanted the infants moved to Adan's orphanage, where they could get at least some medical care from us. Jules was embarrassed as he cried twice while describing to me the condition that the children were in.
- An Imperfect Offering, James Orbinski
There's no reason for me to live except to see this stop.
Jules--just back from the former Yugoslavia, where Bosnian Muslims were being slaughtered by President Milosevic's Serbs--came to see the situation in Baidoa for himself. He spent most of his time with Dana working on security and political issues, but he urged me to do more to support the informal local relief committees. A women's group took him to an orphanage that had been set up in an abandoned school. The group had some thirty infants, and most if not all of them would be dead in a week without medical care. The women wanted the infants moved to Adan's orphanage, where they could get at least some medical care from us. Jules was embarrassed as he cried twice while describing to me the condition that the children were in.
- An Imperfect Offering, James Orbinski
There's no reason for me to live except to see this stop.