Famine in Somalia: ‘Mother Who Leaves a Child Behind Just Wants to Survive’

By Miriam Gathigah

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from GIN

This mother, whose child is still alive, seeks help, food and shelter from famine relief workers. Other mothers are not as fortunate.

(TriceEdneyWire.com)  - On the road between the Kenyan and Somali border lie the dead bodies of children who have succumbed to the famine and the hardships of making the journey from their drought-stricken villages to Kenya.

And it is the story of these children who die between Somali’s southern town of Dobley, which is the last border town before crossing into Kenya, that is yet to be told, aid workers say.

Ahmed Khalif, who works for a local non-governmental organization in Kenya and regularly crosses the border between the two countries for his work to aid people in Somalia, talks of seeing the bodies of numerous children on the roadside.

"I am a regular on the route between the Kenyan and Somali border, anyone who has used this route will narrate horrific stories of dead bodies, mostly children.

"Their mothers are dying too. It’s not a heartless mother leaving a child behind, just a mother who wants to survive for the sake of living," attests Khalif.

He says he sees droves of mostly women and children attempting to cross the border to Kenya. But when the children become too weak to walk any longer, they just fall down on the roadside while their mothers and families, half dead with starvation, continue to walk on in an attempt to reach the border and hopefully, aid.

"It is a shocking image to see (children) on the brink of death, their skin sagging from extreme dehydration, their frame too small for their height, their lips dry. They don’t talk, they just lie there.

 "(Their) eyes sink into their sockets, but still they stare back at you. It is very disturbing. You think the others are heartless for abandoning them, but they too are in the same physical shape. Only the will to reach Dadaab keeps them going," Khalif explains.

Those children who die along the way are not buried.

 "Who has the extra strength to do so? Those moving on are very weak too, they just keep going…at the camp, that’s where they get buried. When they die there," Khalif says adding that Dadaab has a makeshift graveyard.

Those Somali children who have survived and make it to the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya have done so after enduring unimaginable levels of hardships, walking for at least 10 days in intense heat, through a hyena-infested no-man’s land, to get to the camp.

"The Al Shabaab (extremist group that controls much of southern Somalia) continues to make it difficult for people to access Kenya and Dadaab by making Dobley, the last border town in Somalia, inaccessible to Somalis who come from Al Shabaab-controlled regions," Khalif says.

This is despite the fact that the town is now controlled by Somali government forces, who seized control from Al Shabaab three months ago.

So instead of walking 15 kilometres from Dobley to Kenya, many have to take a route that bypasses the town and walk an additional four to nine days just to get to the border.

But this longer route is dangerous. Roaming bandits rape women and steal the meagre possessions of those trying to find aid.

But at Dadaab, which has now become the largest refugee camp in the world with over 380,000 people, life is still difficult, especially for children. Four children die daily as almost 1,300 Somalis fleeing the drought continue to arrive everyday. This is according to United Nations (U.N.) agencies, which say over 300 million dollars are needed over six months to help save the children affected by the drought.

"The children are too small, too light for their age. Their condition has exceeded the global acute malnutrition rate. This drought is reversing gains made in reducing child mortality," says Oliver Yambi, the United Nation’s Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) representative in Kenya.

Yambi adds that U.N. agencies are now encountering malnutrition levels of up to 35 percent, a severe form of malnutrition characterised by extreme weight loss and children having a very small frame for their age.

The World Health Organization has set a 15 percent threshold against which the extent of malnutrition is measured. Anything above the 15 percent mark shows an advanced state of acute malnutrition and children in this stage rarely survive. They are 10 times more likely to die before age five.

According to UNICEF, the number of acutely malnourished children under five years in Somalia increased from 476,000 in January to 554,550 in July.

And their mothers are not faring any better.

"Children are not the only ones dying at Dadaab. Maternal mortality is very high. We estimate that for every 100,000 live births, at least 298 women will die. But these figures are moderate. The numbers are rising due to the extreme anaemia as well as the ratio of patients to nurses. On average, there is one health facility for every 1,700 refugees and counting," explains a source from OXFAM. Eighty percent of the refugees in the region are women.

The U.N. said in a statement on Jul. 27 that the famine can lead to complications during pregnancy and childbirth and increases the risk of maternal deaths and infant illnesses.

"Experts estimate that eliminating malnutrition among mothers can reduce disabilities in their infants by almost one third.

The statement said, "UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund) country offices in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti are carrying out emergency measures to distribute reproductive health care supplies, medical equipment and dignity kits to affected populations. This will ensure life saving treatment for mothers and their children, while also facilitating safe deliveries of newborns."

Black-White Wealth Gap Wider than Ever Before, New Study Finds

By Gregory Dale

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspapers

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The wealth gap between Black families and their White counterparts is now the biggest it has ever been, a recent Pew Research Center study found.

According to the report, the median wealth of White households was nearly 20 times that of Black households and 18 times that of Spanish families, data gathered from 1984 to 2009 revealed. According to the data, the net wealth of a White household—defined as assets minus debts—was $113,149 in 2009, compared to $6,325 for Hispanic households and $5,677 for Black households.

The report also found that 35 percent of Black and 31 percent of Hispanic households had zero or negative net worth in 2009, versus just 15 percent of White households.

The data was compiled from the Pew Center’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, a questionnaire issued periodically to thousands of households across the country by the U.S. Census Bureau.

“The reason for the wealth gaps are numerous, but one of them is a history of structural discrimination—that’s outright labor market discrimination and less access to education in communities of color,” Dr. Christian Weller, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress told the AFRO. “Those kind of things, over time has accumulated and held back communities of color and contributed to less wealth. Also, one of the biggest problems is the fact that Latinos, African-Americans and Asian Americans tend to be substantially less likely than Whites to have benefits from an employer. They do not have the same level of benefits in terms of pensions and healthcare.”

Weller said one solution to the staggering gap calls for officials to improve surveillance on racial discrimination in various areas.

“There’s a whole host of things we can do. The first thing is to have better financial market regulations and better enforcement of equal lending. We are moving in the right direction,” he said.

Mary Kay Henry, president of the Services Employees International Union, said she believes one of the key solutions to solving problem is the proactive creation of new jobs.

“Instead of creating jobs that help workers provide a good life for their families, right-wing politicians are pushing job-killing policies and massive tax breaks for CEOs and millionaires,” Henry said in a statement. “Everyday it becomes clearer that we need to take a stand to create good jobs that help rebuild the middle class and help workers provide a strong future for their children. Close the wealth gaps with good jobs.”

A Sugar Coated Satan Sandwhich with Strychnine on the Side: Wll the Debt Ceiling Fix Bring Double Dip Recession?

By Julianne Malveaux

NEWS ANALYSIS

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Our country appears to have avoided default on our debt, based on a deal that was cut Sunday night, and negotiations that were set to begin Monday morning.

Of course, as I write this, there may well be another monkey wrench thrown into the process of compromise, as the Tea Party Republicans have been intransient and completely unwilling to compromise. President Obama and some Democrats, on the other hand, have been far willing to compromise putting everything sacred – Social Security, Medicare, educational programs – on the table while taking other matters, including tax increases on the wealthy, off the table.

To swallow deep budget cuts without also looking at revenue increases seems misguided, at best, and perhaps even foolish. Further, to wait until the eleventh hour threatens the sense of security that our elderly, disabled, and others are entitled to. Eventually, this erodes confidence in government and weakens the fabric of civic participation.

The deal will require about $3 billion in deficit reductions, but no increase in revenue. It gives Republicans virtually everything they asked for in the beginning. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo), Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, described the deal as a “sugar coated Satan sandwich”. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said this flawed deal “trades people’s livelihoods for the votes for a few unappeasable right wing radicals”.

The entirely appropriate stern language, frankly, does not go far enough because it does not factor in the possibility that recession will continue (I know, some people think it is over, but those are the people who are still basking in the benefits of the Bush tax cuts), or become a double-dip recession. Indeed, if this debt deal exacerbates economic hard times, we’ll be sipping on a side of strychnine with that sugar coated Satan sandwich Congressman Cleaver has described.

Double dip recession? How? Let’s start with high unemployment rates that are likely to get higher when money is taken out of the economy. Let’s add the millions of housing units that are empty, and the foreclosure crisis that has not yet been resolved. More than 28 percent of us have “underwater” mortgages, or mortgages higher than the value of a home. Many are considering walking away from those mortgages, exacerbating the housing crisis.

Mix in the effect this months-long debate has had on our investment climate. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by more than 2 percent in just one day. A skittish stock market doesn’t exactly bode well for economic recovery. Nor does a weakened bond rating. Nor higher interest rates, which appear to be a possibility. Furthermore, economic growth in the last quarter was extremely sluggish, at just 1.3 percent. Consumer spending was up by only a tenth of a percentage point!

The unemployment situation is the most disturbing. Nearly a third of those who are out of work have been out of work for a full year. The average length of unemployment is now 40 weeks, or ten months! The French philosopher Albert Camus once wrote, “Without work all life is rotten”. There are at least twenty-five million Americans leading “rotten” lives because they have no work. Many, also, have no hope.

Yet the possibility of using stimulus to generate employment is not possible with the possibility of debt celling legislation that offers no flexibility for an employment downturn. Pass that sugar-coated Satan sandwich, and let me wash it down with a big dose of that strychnine. That’s right, strychnine. Poison. Because this deal is poison for the economy and for most of the American people.

The possibilities of a double dip (or continuing) recession increase because there is little credit access. The banks took their bail-out money and ran. Small businesses and potential homeowners often can’t get a loan even with pristine credit. The bail out money was meant for economic stimulus, but the banks played a bad game of three-card Monte with the American people.   While our economy languishes, few in Congress have the moxie to stand up to the banks. Indeed, too many are in cahoots with them. How else can we possibly explain the sidelining of Elizabeth Warren to lead the new regulatory agency?

Julianne Malveaux is and economist and president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Aug. 1, 2011

New SCLC President Dies of Apparent Heart Attack; Dr. King Nephew Named Interim Successor

By Hazel Trice Edney

 The late Dr. Howard Creecy Jr.

Isaac Newton Farris, Jr.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Rev. Dr. Howard W. Creecy, the new president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who just last month outlined his vision to revive the historic civil rights organization, has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 57.

Isaac Newton Farris Jr., the 48-year-old nephew of SCLC founder Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has been named Interim President of SCLC. Farris, who was serving as national vice president of the organization, praised Creecy for his visionary leadership and said his aim is to continue growing the organization from the blue print set forth by Creecy.

“He had laid out a course. He had a vision that he obviously had shared with us all; a vision that we all were buying into and he had put some meat on those bones,” Farris said in an interview with the Trice Edney News Wire the day after the death announcement.

The SCLC family as well as his immediate family are shocked, Farris said. “Emotionally, we are rattled. But, institutionally, we are not rattled at all because although he is not here to implement, he did provide a blue print.”

Creecy, a third generation preacher at The Olivet Church in Fayetteville, a civil-rights activist and father of two, died at approximately 12:30 a.m. in his home, said a release. The cause of his death was initially undetermined, but family members suspected a heart attack and an autopsy was commissioned.

“We thank the community for the outpouring of compassion and condolences during this difficult time,” his wife Yolanda Grier Creecy and his family said in a statement.

A funeral is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 6 at Jackson Memorial Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Farris credited Creecy for saving the life of the organization, which has been beleaguered with controversy and mired in court battles the past two years. Creecy took the helm of the 54-year-old civil rights organization in late January after the Rev. Bernice King decided to bow out. She had been elected president the previous year, but her presidency never took affect amidst court battles and rancor between board members.

“Howard saved the organization, quite frankly. Had he not done what he did when he did it, we might not be having this conversation,” Farris said.

In an extensive interview in late May, Creecy told the Trice Edney News Wire that his vision was to move African-Americans from a place of simple empowerment to equity. Among the plans he had already begun to put in place was an infusion of youth by setting up SCLC chapters on college campuses and in high schools.

His eyes on the 2012 presidential election, Creecy said the non-partisan SCLC would adamantly push for voter education, registration and get out to vote along with a coalition of other Black civic organizations.

If Obama wins a second term, Black leaders would need to encourage him to do more for Black progress “by continuing to encourage him; dialoguing with him by speaking truth to power, and creating the updraft to be the wind beneath his wings that lets him soar to the place of our expectation. But it cannot be done without our participation.”

Farris, the son of Dr. King’s sister, Dr. Christine King Farris, was president and CEO of the MLK Center in Atlanta until last year.

“I’ve had a pretty balanced and exposed background,” Farris said. “Howard was like a big brother to me. Our families are close. I grew up knowing Howard. We played together.”

He said he had the advantage of gleaning from Creecy for a lifetime. “One thing that I took from Howard, which I think is important for this organization, is his love for people - his genuine love for people. I guess that’s what made his ministry thrive as well.”

Farris was clear that he did not know whether he would take the long-term presidency after his interim term or whether it would even be offered. “I have not really had that formal discussion with the board; So, I would just feel kind of awkward getting ahead and answering that at this point.”

Creecy was the son of the late civil rights icon Rev. Howard Creecy Sr. also an SCLC stalwart.

Farris concluded: “Howard has been a prophetic leader who deeply inspired me along with countless others across this great nation and world. From his inspired leadership, which revitalized the SCLC, we will work to continue on the path that he and leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. lay before us.”