(ERGO) – A water shortage caused by a malfunction in the water wells in the Xagardheer refugee camp has left the family of Nimco Isse Roobaa hungry and thirsty, and they have not been able to light a fire for the past 24 hours.

She is unable to walk to the well 3 km away from her home. She feels weak and in pain, after 2 months of carrying 20 liters of water from the well on her back.

She is among the approximately 120,000 people facing this problem since December last year, according to Radio Ergo, who was told by camp authorities that they were dealing with a water supply problem.

Nimco, who is complaining of severe back and head pain, said that her children are thirsty and hungry, as she has lost the ability to fetch water.

She mentioned that they had improved the well where they used to get water for free and it was not far from her house. She deplored the living conditions that the lack of water had put her family in.

“I couldn’t light the fire because there was no water. Should the child be bathed in this body, should it be used as a drink or should it be taken away? We don’t have enough to distribute. I don’t have any water tonight. Yesterday I brought this one from the Xagdheer market, which is the last stop.”

This woman, who is raising her children alone and divorced, is poor and cannot afford to buy water from tankers that are delivered to her camp. People with money buy it, and it is difficult to get a loan.

The impact of the water shortage has cost Nimco her livelihood by doing manual labor. She said that the people who used to do this job, which was washing clothes, excused her from doing it due to the lack of water.

If she were to try to find potential customers, the water she would need would be a challenge due to the distance from her home. She indicated that she is dealing with similar problems.

“While the water was gone, I was forced to do so, since the children are young and cannot fetch water. I was leaving for prayer, bringing my one-year-old from the last house in Xagardheer. By the time I arrive in the neighborhood, it is noon.”

She said she is struggling with unemployment and a poor life due to the lack of water in the Xagardheer camp. Since the beginning of December, she has not received the 4,000-5,000 Kenyan shillings she used to receive daily, but now it has disappeared.

“We are very thirsty. I can get food. A brother will give you food. I have food at home to cook tonight. But I don’t have water to cook with.”

She would like to see an immediate solution to the problem of the damaged borehole, which is the basis of her children’s daily lives, who directly and indirectly depend on the water for drinking and cooking, and sometimes for washing clothes for the family.

Nimco’s family fled insecurity in Kismayo, Lower Juba region, in 2020, where they also work as laborers.

The most vulnerable people affected by the water shortage are the disabled and the elderly who have no support. Among them is Hassan Abdullahi Khamis, who is paralyzed in his right leg.

He is the father of a family of six and works alone. The burden of the broken well that was his source of water brought him to a difficult job. He had to walk 4 hours every day.

He collects the water his family uses from a distant well once every 48 hours. He has to carry at least 20 liters, and he does it with great difficulty.

He said he has been working on this difficult task for two months. He also complains about the poor food he is eating, which is affecting his family.

“My family and I have been very affected by the lack of water. We are facing a severe water shortage. The well I used to drink from is broken. I have difficulty getting by. I have to fetch water from a distance. I tie a plastic bag around myself. I pull it. I feel a great burden. Now I don’t know how to get water.”

He said they experienced extreme thirst, which they had not experienced in the 20 years they had lived in Xagardheer. He noted that the children were given firewood once every 24 hours, and were also given water to sustain themselves.

He said that they cannot find any water to use for hygiene purposes, which is worrying them.

“We are afraid of getting sick because of the lack of water. We are suffering as refugees. We are afraid of getting cholera.”

He lost his job running a construction project for his family when he lost the opportunity to search for water due to the shortage, he said. He said he now supports his family by taking out loans from shops he used to shop at.

This man’s family settled in Dadaab after the collapse of the country. He fled from the disaster-hit Jammaame district. He used to work in house construction.

Four wells have failed in the past year, and have not been repaired. This happened during the hot weather, which coincided with the beginning of the month of Sooqaad.

Abukar Sheikh Abdullahi, deputy governor of Xagardheer, told Radio Ergo that the camp administration does not have the capacity to find a solution to the problems with the wells, which are costing a lot of money to repair.

“The heat has increased. The engines, which initially did not have much water, have all stopped. We are in great danger. Since water has become very scarce and difficult to obtain, even those who may have food will have to cook on the stove. It is a very dangerous situation. It is no secret.”

This water shortage has come as aid to refugees in the Dadaab camps has been decreasing in recent times.

Source: Ergo