{"id":3419,"date":"2019-08-22T23:43:07","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T23:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=3419"},"modified":"2019-08-24T07:48:19","modified_gmt":"2019-08-24T07:48:19","slug":"cash-gives-somali-idps-in-bossaso-hope-of-leaving-shabby-camps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2019\/08\/22\/cash-gives-somali-idps-in-bossaso-hope-of-leaving-shabby-camps\/","title":{"rendered":"Cash gives Somali IDPs in Bossaso hope of leaving shabby camps"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOSSASO (SoOHA) –<\/strong> As part of an ongoing series on IDP camps in Somalia, Radio Ergo\u2019s local reporter in\u00a0Bossaso\u00a0visited a camp where cash assistance is making a big difference to families using it to invest in business and education.<\/p>\n

Halima Bile Ali\u00a0<\/span>is working hard to move her family out of a\u00a0<\/span>shabby\u00a0<\/span>displacement camp into the town of\u00a0<\/span>Bossaso<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0in Somalia\u2019s northeastern Puntland region. She hopes that her\u00a0<\/span>fledgling\u00a0<\/span>small business, set up using cash grants, will give them a new future.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Business is the only way to improve the living standards of the people,\u201d said Halima, a mother of 11 children, who\u00a0<\/span>fled<\/span>\u00a0to Puntland from\u00a0<\/span>clashes in\u00a0<\/span>her native\u00a0<\/span>Hiran<\/span>\u00a0region in 2001.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I\u00a0<\/span>am\u00a0<\/span>sell<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0meat, vegetable<\/span>s,\u00a0<\/span>and firewood. I started this business with\u00a0<\/span>the cash allowance I saved over two months.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Halima\u2019s family is among\u00a0<\/span>180\u00a0<\/span>families living in\u00a0<\/span>Mingis-B<\/span>\u00a0IDP<\/span>\u00a0c<\/span>amp in Bossaso<\/span>, who\u00a0<\/span>have been receiving month<\/span>ly<\/span>\u00a0cash\u00a0<\/span>assistance\u00a0<\/span>from<\/span>\u00a0the UN\u2019s World Food Program (WFP).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Using<\/span>\u00a0the $85 she received in May and the\u00a0<\/span>$85<\/span>\u00a0in June, Halima has invested in her business as well as her children\u2019s education. She decided to tell her eldest son to stop going out to work as a shoe-shiner and enrolled him in school for the first time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was advised by the neighbors<\/span>\u00a0to take the boy to school<\/span>. N<\/span>ow I can at least get the daily bread\u00a0<\/span>for<\/span>\u00a0t<\/span>he family<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0so there is no need<\/span>\u00a0sending him to<\/span>\u00a0provide food for us<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0she told Radio Ergo.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I earn between $20 and $3<\/span>0 from the sales<\/span>\u00a0from my business<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Previously<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0my firstborn used\u00a0<\/span>to cater for\u00a0<\/span>the school fees of the\u00a0<\/span>other\u00a0<\/span>children but now, wi<\/span>th the support of my husband, I can afford to\u00a0<\/span>pay all the school fees for\u00a0<\/span>my children<\/span>,\u201d said Halima<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Halima\u2019s husband works as a porter at Bossaso port. They\u00a0<\/span>pay $25\u00a0<\/span>a month in school fees for their\u00a0<\/span>five\u00a0<\/span>school-age\u00a0<\/span>children<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cash is proving to be popular among the recipients in this camp a<\/span>nd seems to be having a positive impact on education enrolment among children.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the camp chairman,\u00a0<\/span>Abdirisack<\/span>\u00a0Abdi\u00a0<\/span>Allin<\/span>, people can define their own priorities and use the cash to plan ahead.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>This money\u00a0<\/span>has given<\/span>\u00a0hope to many people in this camp<\/span>,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Abdirisack<\/span>\u00a0said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cT<\/span>here are families in\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>camp who<\/span>\u00a0have now<\/span>\u00a0stopped\u00a0<\/span>sending\u00a0<\/span>their\u00a0<\/span>children to do\u00a0<\/span>casual jobs\u00a0<\/span>and sent them to school. Before this,\u00a0<\/span>the IDPs and their children used to struggle to get food<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0but now many\u00a0<\/span>more\u00a0<\/span>children\u00a0<\/span>are attending\u00a0<\/span>school<\/span>.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mingis<\/span>-B camp<\/span>, with a population of 800 families,<\/span>\u00a0lacks\u00a0<\/span>most\u00a0<\/span>basic<\/span>\u00a0amenities<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0There is no well so\u00a0<\/span>people\u00a0<\/span>have to go to\u00a0<\/span>fetch w<\/span>ater from nearby neighborhoods. There is also no health facility.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fartun<\/span>\u00a0Haji Ibrahim<\/span>, another camp resident, has\u00a0<\/span>also\u00a0<\/span>invested her cash allowance in business. She sells<\/span>\u00a0firewood\u00a0<\/span>brought in\u00a0<\/span>by local businessmen from the remote\u00a0<\/span>surrounding\u00a0<\/span>areas\u00a0<\/span>by truck<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Firewood\u00a0<\/span>sells\u00a0<\/span>very well<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0I<\/span>\u00a0sell\u00a0<\/span>a truckload each month\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>I earn enough\u00a0<\/span>income\u00a0<\/span>to support my family. This business has been of much help to my family<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span>said\u00a0<\/span>Fartun<\/span>, a mother of six.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u00a0<\/span>immediately enrolled<\/span>\u00a0three of her children\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0a private school for the first time<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The<\/span>\u00a0children have been going\u00a0<\/span>to school for the last two months.<\/span>\u00a0I\u00a0<\/span>was able to afford the school<\/span>\u00a0fees. I am optimistic th<\/span>at my business will<\/span>\u00a0grow so that\u00a0<\/span>I can become\u00a0<\/span>independent,<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span>she said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As for Halima, she has set her ambitions on building a better future outside the confines of the\u00a0<\/span>IDP camp.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to become a resident of this town<\/span>,\u201d she told Radio Ergo. \u201c<\/span>When my business grows well, I will rent a house in the town. I hope this\u00a0<\/span>cash\u00a0<\/span>funding goes\u00a0<\/span>on\u00a0<\/span>for some time so that I expand th<\/span>e<\/span>\u00a0business,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: Radio Ergo<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOSSASO (SoOHA) – As part of an ongoing series on IDP camps in Somalia, Radio Ergo\u2019s local reporter in\u00a0Bossaso\u00a0visited a camp where cash assistance is making a big difference to families using it to invest in business and education. Halima Bile Ali\u00a0is working hard to move her family out of a\u00a0shabby\u00a0displacement camp into the town …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-displacement-and-asylum","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t