Somali Army Teaches Health Awareness at IDP Camps

ADF STAFF

Somali National Army (SNA) officers wore camouflage uniforms and protective masks as they marched and rode into a crowded camp for internally displaced people (IDP).

Their mission was to educate hundreds of thousands of people at the migrant camp in Mogadishu about ways to keep themselves safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Soldiers tested for the deadly virus, and gave out masks, gloves and hand-washing kits. An estimated 2.6 million people live in IDP camps in Somalia, according to the United Nations.

The high density of people at the Mogadishu camp means residents must share toilets, sinks and mess halls – ideal conditions for spreading the highly contagious virus.

“You normally see us on the front line defending the nation,” an SNA Soldier said in a video produced by the United Nations, which supported the effort. “But what we are doing [here] is no different, since we are bringing lifesaving information to our Somali people.

The SNA faced a challenging task.

Although COVID-19 hit Mogadishu and other heavily populated areas in the country hard, many displaced Somalis, as well as young migrants from Kenya and Ethiopia, refused to believe they could be infected, according to a U.N. report. Some didn’t even know the disease existed.

In other large urban areas, some Somalis believed the virus could be spread only through mosquito bites and blood transfusions.

“Awareness messages are going out through social media and TV channels, but these people do not have any of these things,” the SNA Soldier said during the visit. “We have to visit them where they live and tell them in a more effective way what they need to know and how to protect themselves. So now they don’t need TV or social media, because we are right there with them.”

Around the IDP camps, misinformation led to wildly inaccurate assumptions: Those who wore masks to prevent the spread of the disease often were believed to be carriers of the virus, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Somalia reported.

“If you wear a mask, people … run away,” Mohamed, a 45-year-old man living in a camp in Kismayo, told IOM. “I’ve heard people saying things like, ‘Coronavirus only attacks the community leaders, the rich and white people.’

“Some even think that the face masks are bringing the virus, because they are imported from abroad.”

Somalia’s government confronted the COVID-19 outbreak at the same time it grappled with its worst locust outbreak in 25 years, historic flooding and ongoing terrorist attacks.

According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, as of August 16 COVID-19 had infected 3,250 Somalis and killed 93, including Khalif Mumin Tohow, the justice minister in the state of Hirshabelle. Those numbers likely are underreported due to a lack of testing by health systems enfeebled by decades of civil war.

Somalis who feel sick or want information about COVID-19 can call 449, a toll-free government number.