The latest weather update in Dadaab;
North Eastern Kenya has been having a lot of drought in the past years, but this year it is different, it is heavily raining at the moment. Public transports have been affected seriously. This means that making to the learning center every day for students who come from different camp levels, will hard as it was before. This morning, I have come to the learning center footing, because I had a lot of activities to get done and I need the connections which are only found in the camps. Many students who also came to the learning center expressed the same situations.
Arte one of the graduate students and a program mentor who stays 14 km away from the learning center told me that, any lucky student who comes to the center for study probably will be helped by an NGO vehicle to come to the learning center. As he continues to share his difficulties in providing feedback to his students, he said that “I am staying in dilemma today, whether to mark these reflection papers or think of how to go back home, since transportation is a challenge in the evening”. The other challenge in the camps is that there is no sufficient power and connectivity (has no strong network). Another Program mentor for the cohort three students also told me that coming from home to the learning center is a challenge for him. In a phone call, he told me that, “I don’t know what the situation will be but, will try my best level to make sure that everything meets the expectation”.
Rains come like 24 hours and give breaks for some days and restart before the land dries. It has never happened quite some time. the predictions, also say that it could be a repeat of 1997 “Elnino flooding” the worries for the camps are that the Tana river a distance of 208 km, if the water level rises, then this river will overflow causing a lot of life destruction and loss of life. This is what we are all fearing will happen.
I hope the humanitarian organization, could focus on emergency responses, and be ready to save the affected areas, through provisions of medical attention, food, and shelters.
Reported by Abdikadir Abikar
Graduate student/ Dadaab Refugee Camp
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