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Grateful to live in the US

Marshall resident flees drought, violence of Somalia

Photo by Karin Elton Abshiro Ahmed fled to the U.S. from Somalia, which is plagued by violence and drought.

MARSHALL — In other lean years in Somalia, the camels survived. The current drought has been so bad that this year the camels have started to die.

So says a Marshall woman who was born in Somalia and had to flee because of the instability of the government and the violence of the chronic civil war there.

Through interpreter Fartun Ali of Marshall, Abshiro Ahmed talked about her life. She doesn’t like to talk about why she left Somalia.

“I don’t want to even remember,” she said. She had six children. “I lost them.”

Now she has only one who has survived the violence of the civil unrest. She lives with her daughter and three grandchildren in Marshall. She said she is grateful for the opportunity to live in the United States.

“I really appreciate this country,” she said. “I don’t have the stress and fear. I have peace, food and shelter, medications. I’m grateful to the United States.”

She lived for 11 years in St. Cloud and has been in Marshall for three years.

Ahmed thinks about family members who are still living in Somalia. She has an older sister who lives in Afmadow, Somalia, and has children and grandchildren who are suffering.

She tries to help the people in Somalia who are still suffering from the effects of a multi-year drought, but with a small income herself, she can only do so much.

“They say, ‘we need food, we need money,’ but I only have so much to give,” she said.

Ali said the Somali community in the United States give to their family back home.

“When we say ‘family,’ we mean not only our mothers and fathers, but cousins, neighbors and friends, our mothers’ friends,” she said.

The Somali immigrants have friends in the Marshall area. A new group has formed in Marshall to help the Somali people called Marshall Area Global Relief. It has a donation site on the website of a fundraising group, ARAHA (American Relief Agency for the Horn of Africa), out of the Twin Cities.

ARAHA works in the Horn of Africa region to deliver essentials for living and develop self-sustaining opportunities, according to its website, araha.org. The Marshall group decided to initiate a Life Saver campaign on ARAHA’s website for those who wish to donate. The money goes to where the need is greatest, say MAGR members. The group is thinking of focusing on raising money just for wells so Somali can be self-sustaining. More information can be found at araha.org and by searching for Marshall Area Global Relief on Facebook.

Ali said famine, drought and economic collapse can happen anywhere.

“People should care because of humanity,” Ali said. “We should help other humans. These people don’t have something to eat. What if you looked in the refrigerator and it was empty? What if you went to the grocery store and it was empty? What if this was your child crying for food? It could happen anywhere at any time. We take (our life) for granted.”

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