The harshest of fighting flared up in Mogadishu a few months ago. Two SOS co-workers were killed and many others have been injured in the past few weeks. In December other SOS co-workers and their children died. The SOS Children's Village has been evacuated and the SOS Hermann Gmeiner School is closed at present. At least the SOS Hospital, which had been closed, is now in operation again, though there is fighting going on in the immediate vicinity. SOS Children's Villages President Helmut Kutin got a first hand impression of the situation on the ground and his visit gave the children, SOS mothers and co-workers the feeling that they
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| Helmut Kutin is welcomed by children at the Mogadishu airport- Photo: A. Gabriel |
Mr Kutin, what were the first things that caught your eye upon your arrival in Mogadishu?
Our local co-workers put me in a car immediately in order to bring me to safety. During that short drive I was able to see how much damage 17 years of uninterrupted fighting can do: everything is full of bullet marks, everything destroyed, haggard people, haggard children. This was one of the most depressing visits in all of my life with SOS Children's Villages.
How are the SOS families doing?
The village had to be evacuated after a grenade attack. The SOS mothers and children are staying in rented houses in one of the safest parts of the city, near the airport. The emergency has caused them to bond more strongly and their feeling of unity is enormous.
You met the SOS families for the first time in a hotel and not in the village. How was it?
Calling it a hotel is an exaggeration, but it was safe. There were armed guards at the door. It was an incredibly emotional moment for me, as I could simultaneously see feelings of hurt and great strength in their eyes. I could also see how the idea of the SOS Children's Village is being kept alive even though they now have to live in rented houses in Mogadishu.
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| "Start listening to the children!" - Photo: A. Gabriel |
Did SOS Children's Villages ever consider leaving Somalia completely?
We almost moved the entire village to the Kenyan border 10 years ago, but we decided against it. For the moment, the SOS mothers and the village director, who know the situation better than the rest of us, have decided to stay in the emergency residences in Mogadishu until they can return to the village.
Which influence does SOS Children's Villages has in Somalia?
SOS Children's Villages' care of orphaned children is highly esteemed, and the hospital is of great importance, as it is one of very few such facilities specialised in assisting women and children. Our co-workers were courageous in defending the hospital and managed to have it re-opened. Several hundred patients are treated there daily.
How can one keep a hospital running under such conditions?
This can only work if people are truly and personally committed. One of our leading doctors is a Somali who completed his training in Italy, works in London, but decided four months ago to spend a year helping his people in Somalia. He motivates all other co-workers. We receive medication daily by air from ECHO [EU Humanitarian Aid] in cooperation with other organisations.
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| At the provisional school - Photo: A. Gabriel |
The SOS School is closed. How are lessons being held?
The children are being taught provisionally in an empty factory hall. We have separated the space into classrooms with simple wooden planks. Transport possibilities are rare, so the teachers and the children walk for two or three hours daily. It is incredible. The people see this as a sign of hope, though, they believe things will change.
What is to come in Somalia? While I was there the children sang a song composed by an 18 year-old student who was severely injured by bullets and conducted the choir in crutches. "We do not want war, we do not want hunger, but no one listens to us", they sing. The world has to start listening to these children so that change can occur!