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A tortured choice in famine: Which child lives?

Notes on my thoughts,

The United States estimates that more than 29,000 Somali children under age 5 have

reactions and questions as I

died in the famine in the last three months. An unknown number too weak to walk

read:

farther have been abandoned on the sandy trek to help after food and water supplies ran

out.

Faduma Sakow Abdullahi, a 29-year-old widow, attempted the journey to Dadaab with

her baby and other children ages 5, 4, 3 and 2. A day before she reached the refugee

camp, her 4-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son wouldn't wake up after a brief rest.

Abdullahi said she did not want to "waste" the little water she had in a 5-liter container

on dying children when the little ones needed it.

Nor did she want to wait for too long until her other children started dying, so she stood

up and walked away a few paces — then returned in the hopes the youngsters were in

fact alive.After several back-and-forth walks, she finally left her two children under a

tree, unsure whether they could be resuscitated.

More than 12 million people in East Africa are in need of food aid because of the severe

drought. The U.N. says 2.8 million of those are in need of immediate lifesaving

assistance, including more than 450,000 in Somalia's famine zones.

Ahmed Jafar Nur, a 50-year-old father of seven, was traveling with his 14-year-old son

and 13-year-old daughter to Kenya. But after only two days of walking, they ran out of

water. By the third day, they could only sit beneath a big tree — thirsty, hungry and

exhausted.

"The two children could not walk on anymore. Then instead of us all dying there, I was

forced to leave them to their fate, especially after I thought of the other five children and

their mother I left behind at home. I said to myself, 'Save your life for the interest of the

five others. These two have their God,'" he said.

"That was the worst thing I experienced in my life. It was a heartbreaking experience to

abandon my children who are part of myself," he said. "For almost three months, my

mind was not stable. Their images were in front of me." Miraculously, the two teenagers

were saved by nomads, and they have since made their way back to their mother in

Somalia. But Nur said he can't afford to bring the rest of his family to Kenya because it

cost too much.

"I was a farmer and had no education that can help me now get jobs. We depend on

handouts," he said. "My mind is preoccupied with them: Will they all die, including

their mother, or will some survive? That is what I always ask myself."

When Faqid Nur Elmi's 3-year-old son died of hunger and thirst on the road from

Somalia, his mother could only surround his body with small dried branches to serve as

a grave. She couldn't stop to mourn — there were five other children to think about.

"Where will I get the energy to dig up a grave for him?" she asked. "I was just thinking

of how I can save the rest of the children. The God who gave me him in the first place

took him away. So I didn't worry much about the late son. Others' lives were at risk."

Muhumed, M. A tortured choice in famine: Which child lives? Associated Press

August 23, 2011

A Tortured Choice In Famine: Which Child Lives - Middle School Reading Article Worksheet Page 2

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