SITE VISIT TO DADAAB REFUGEE CAMPS

We are focusing this section of our blog on our August 22, 23, 24, 2011 site visit to the Dadaab Refugee camps.  Our purpose was to gain a better understanding of how we can implement the emergency relief package the LDS Church has approved for aid to the Somalia refugees.  The camps are home to approximately 420,000 Somalias coming over the border to Kenya because of the civil unrest and famine caused by severe drought.  The Church wanted us to first find out what type of aid was needed, then locate a partner that can participate with the United Nations (who manage the camps).  We held meetings with several aid agencies and selected International Medical Corps (IMC) as the NGO to partner with and that is who arranged our visit. 

Most of the blog will consist of the pictures we took as we traveled throughout the various camps, plus a map to help you understand how the old/new camps are laid out.  Many of the pictures will show a temporary medical clinic because our partner, MTC, will provide the medical/nutrition services to a brand new camp called Kambioos, which will be funded by LDS Humanitarian donations.

Instead of luggage -check it out - full of goats!

After six hours on paved road we arrived at Garissa, the last "normal" town before we headed off into the desert.  It was a stark difference than  anything we've seen in Kenya.  Anyone travelling to the refugee camps have to be at Garissa by 2:00 pm - that's the time an armed United Nations convoy leaves for Dadaab - otherwise you are not allowed to go because it is lawless and dangerous, nothing but sand (not even a defined road) for the next 100 miles.  The convoy, led by the armed "commandoes" go at least 60 mph and if you don't keep up they leave you.  It was like the Baja 500 - only two other UN vehicles and then us at the end of the convoy - three does not make a convoy???? Our driver had only been to Dadaab once and we could tell he was very nervous to drive.

Our security escort - a pickup full of armed commandos

   It was not safe and we definately felt at risk but we were on our way.  We saw at least 50+ dead cows along the way, some giraffes and antelopes, how they survived is amazing.  You could see other supply trucks along the route but everyone just made their own road through the desert - it was crazy! I think that was our first three hour ride in a dust cloud.  My sinuses will never be the same.  
Oh and thank goodness for seat belts cause if you didn't have one on .... your head would be bouncing on the ceiling.  I really can't understand the need to travel at a high rate of speed in new trucks unless you just want to see how they will hold up.  Before we left Garissa (the oiled road) I looked under the hood of our 3-week old land rover and noticed the nut off of the battery bracket that secured the battery..... so I found some string and a piece of  wire to tie it down, believe me that saved us a major break down in the middle of the desert.  The battery would have tipped over and shorted our everything.  Little blessings just keep falling out of the sky.  Well by now the tone of the blog has changed and you guessed it Elder Tuttle is at the key board.  As I have said in the past be patient and I'll have Janet correct the spelling and punctuation.  ( Hope Ruth Barker doesn't read this).  Like Forrest Gump said " My MAMA told me I wasn't  a very smart man".  But those that know me know I at least have fun doing what I do. This last week has been an adventure to say the least.  I love getting out in the bush.  Its my favorite part of the mission.  Although I think I am getting a little better in the office. Right JT?

Yes, those are camels!

As we were going mock 60 mph through the desert we would come across herds of camels.  That is possibly the only creation that could survive in the desert except for a snake and scorpion but it was exciting to see them wandering in the desert. The thought crossed my mind about bow hunting for camels.... then I came to my senses.   For those of you who don't  know  its bow hunting season in Utah and my boys are in full camo without me, but I'll get over it.

2-1/2 hours of this - going 60 miles per hour

This is one of the better stretches of road so I was able to hold still enough to take a picture.  Most of the time there was 6 to 8 inches of fine powder dust on the road, so when the driver would change positions in the road the truck would slide like changing lanes in 6 inches of slush in the winter.   I told the driver ( Robert)  that he is now trained to drive in Utah in the winter.  He didn't have a clue what I was talking about.


 IMC ( International Medical Corps.)  team was a great team to take us around the Dadaab camps. Left to right, Caroline (from Lebanon) is a nutritionist  next is Emma (from Alabama) a nurse with a vast amount of information on the workings of the NGO's, then Dinna, (Egyptian) a global strategist and Ekin the Country Director from Turkey.  He is a very soft spoken man and very accommodating to try to get our partnership to work for both us and IMC.  Janet tries to mother him a little cause he is getting married next week and hasn't made many plans because he works 24/7.
                                                                 



 This picture is inside a medical tent with a little family that is being assessed and screened to see if the kids can eat the food supplement (plumpynut) a paste for malnurished kids.  These kids did not want to eat it even though they were starving.  This is quite a process to get starving kids to want to eat again after they have been with out food for so long.  Most people walk at least 120 kilometers to get to the camps, by then they are ready to die, they are given rations and then wait to register to be accepted into the camps.  These medical tents are just that a tent, no permanent  structures are allowed to be built so tents are set up to do the screening, testing, weighing, paper work, distributing of medication, and training parents. Once the refugees are admitted to the camps.they get the necessary items to survive, food, water, shelter, medical, schools and protection.  In fact they live better than most Kenyans that live out in the bush.  I am just glad we can be of some help.       





 
Each family goes to a distribution site to receive a month's supply of staples








New refugees setting up their home, they are each given UN tents but prefer to build their own huts.  The temperature range from 90 - 110 degrees F.  The wind is always blowing, they have no electricity, no utilities, water has to be fetch with a gerry can.... life is a struggle with no way of getting better!  Very depressing for the future for these 400,000 refugees.

This is a typical scene as we drove around, there are three older camps and each has approximately 125,000.  Two new camps are presently being opened to house all those living in the outskirts.   

Their life is spent finding food, water, shelter and medical...not quite the life of all of us in America.   

This man was helping to construct

some tents - one of our favorite pictures.  Because of the language barrier we weren't able to talk with many Somalia's.



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Weighing -checking for malnutrition



The only time we were allowed outside of our vehicle was when we went inside the medical tents to observe a typical health post.    It was hard to watch these mothers and they struggle to care for their children.  A typical Somali family has 6-7 children - its because of the Muslim religion that they believe that many children bring honor and status to the family.  This is a picture we love....its a young mother with a set of triplet girls, plus another daughter and the grandmother.  The babies were healthy but what is ahead for them?          We took 131 pictures but the blog just doesn't do justice to what we saw.... we have returned to Nairobi and the real work begins for us and we have to write a proposal to reflect the needs of the refugees.  What the church wanted to provide is food and shelter but since that is handled by the UN and WFP we now have to prepare a report to include using the funds to provide a health post, the staff, the medical supplies for the next five months and then we'll see if more is needed.  What we saw and the experience we had will never be forgotten.  We spent 2-1/2 days in the camps, took many notes, lots of pictures and now at least we get to return home on a UN plane back to Nairobi - 9 hours to drive and 1 hour to fly.  There so much to share with all of you - hopefully the pictures tell the story.  Its just beginning for us, once the health post gets up and running, we will need to monitor and verify that IMC is doing what they contract to do.  We send our love to everyone and thank you all for your support. 

Bye for now..... E/S Tuttle (MOM/DAD, Dick & Janet, G&G)