New York Times Magazine 2011: New York Times Magazine follows a RefugePoint social worker on food distribution day, part of our life-saving urban refugee protection program.

A protracted famine in Somalia continues to displace hundreds of thousands of people from their homeland. Hungry and desperate, Somalis appeal for help from humanitarian organizations in refugee camps and urban cities throughout the horn of Africa. At RefugePoint’s urban care clinic in Nairobi, our social workers report seeing an increased number of Somalis among their caseload since the famine began.

Featured in a July 2011 New York Times Magazine article, the clinic is designed to help the most vulnerable people in Africa – refugee mothers and children who have nowhere to turn for help. Our food program helps to stabilize people’s lives and is a starting point to give people options for their future. Without our food assistance, people have impossible choices. These include watching their families starve or selling their bodies to feed their children.

Our food program gives our clients breathing room as we explore with them what options they have to survive safely. Some of our other services we offer include health care, protection, safe housing, and helping refugee children access school. All these efforts are in the service of helping people to build a path out of a life of fear and uncertainty. As the the New York Times article shares, the task is not always easy and often fraught with difficult moments, but ultimately it is some of the most important work we do.
To read the article, click here.

Esther, A RefugePoint Nurse in Nairobi. Photo by Christophe Calais.