Hannah+B.+-+ASID+-+SP13

 **a.** The country of Somalia is very unstable and unsafe. Ever since the late 1960's Somalia has had government turmoil. After 1991, a civil war took place that has yet to be resolved in all parts of Somalia. Because of this violence and war going on, many people in Somalia have either fled the country, or died in conflict. Somalia is no longer safe for Somalis to live in. There is no protection for them and they can not count on the government to keep them safe from rebel groups and other fighting taking place. The government of Somalia (what is left of a central government) has not really done anything for the people of Somalia. Before the civil war started in late 1991, Somalia was controlled by a dictator. The civil war started because groups rebelled against the dictator, leaving the country without a controlling, central government for more than twenty years. What is left of the government is still too weak to take back full control of the country, so they basically watch these rebel groups kill their people and watch other groups come in and help fight their battles.  **b**. Since the last central government in Somalia was a dictator, they do not have free open elections. Right now there is no government, and the people have little say on how the government is operated. There is not really gender equality in Somalia, men mainly do all of the work and bring in the income. The woman's job is to take care of the community, children, elders, etc. They cook and get the water, but at the same time they do help with some farming. Gender equality is not as equal as it should be, but at the same time women do do more than just take care of the household. There is not equal representation for all areas of Somalia, rural areas do not get represented. Actually most people do not get represented because there is no government to talk to and in the areas where rebel groups control, it is just like having a dictator.
 * 1. **Aba, wife of Abassi the farmer.
 * 2. **The Equator runs through the southern tip of Somalia making rain harder to come by in most regions of Africa. Meaning that they can not rely on the rain for their crops to grow. Also, Somalia is located on the coast, right next to the Indian Ocean. They have experienced tsunami’s that wiped out their entire fishing industry.
 * 3. ** Aba is married to Abassi  who is a farmer. She helps the other women in the community do their chores while she also does hers. They wake up before dawn and take care of the children and then walk a mile each way to get water for the day. She has two children, both who suffer from malnutrition and has been separated from her mother, brother and sister who fled Somalia into Ethiopia during the civil war. Everyday Aba watches her whole village slowly die from starvation, and knows that she can do nothing to stop it. 
 * 4. **Kenya, Ethiopia and the UN have all helped Somalia drive out rebel groups. These countries/ organizations have also helped them get food and foreign aid when they need it.
 * 5. **
 *  c. **Since the drought in Somalia, little crops have been able to grow. Seeing as the country depends on agricultural exports, their economy has been destroyed. In 2004 there was a devastating tsunami that took out a lot of fishing villages, reducing their exports yet again. The crop that has been able to grow and that provides the most income for Somalia is the banana plantations. Most of the people of Somalia make between $1.60-$4.80 a day, making economic improvements hard to come by. What profit Somalia does make though, is not going back to the people because of the government being in turmoil. The government does not have a budget of any sorts, and does not know how to properly control Somalia’s money.
 * d.** Somalia has very little human development. Most people in the country are illiterate and do not attend school for very long. Seeing as there is no central government, there are no standards for education, health or safety for the people. They are basically left on their own to defend themselves from rebel groups. There is access to water, but it is not always clean and is full of bacteria which is spreading diseases. Besides water diseases, many children are dying from malnutrition and starvation. Somalia has one the highest rates of children being conceived and born, but many of those children die at a young age. Between May and July 2011 over 30,000 children died in Somalia from the famine and shortage of food. The Southern part of Somalia has a high risk for contracting Malaria now, on top of famine they have to also be careful about contracting malaria.
 * e.** Modern day Africa sees a lot of the same social issues. Some of the biggest ones are the same ones that Aba sees everyday, a lack of a central government that is fair and equal and starving people. Famine is quite common in countries that are in the Horn of Africa like Somalia and Kenya and many other countries. Everyday children are born with famine related diseases because there mother is not healthy and there is little or no food to feed that child. During famines, the children always get hit the hardest, seeing as their bodies are constantly growing and they need the nutrients and protein to grow up healthy. The sad fact is that for most of the kids in Somalia and in other African countries growing up healthy is not a reality. The pain in their stomachs from hunger never goes away. Aba knows that feeling all too well, and knows that they can not count on the government to get the aid that they need. Because of there being such a weak government it is like there is no way that they can help their country. Until there is a strong government in position, Somalia’s problems will never be resolved. Somalia needs a solid government so that when they do make a profit from exports the government can help control the money and what the money is used for. Until that day Aba will have to keep on doing everything she can do to keep the people she loves alive.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Works Cited

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Famine in Somalia." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Global Issues In Context. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Somalia." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Global Issues In Context. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"This famine is a failure of politics, not of generosity." Independent [London, England] 25 July 2011: 6. Global Issues In Context. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Woman Cries with Her Dying Child." Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. Adrienne Lerner, Brenda Lerner, and K. Lee Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 219-221. Global Issues In Context. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.