Some colleagues and I took a day trip in a 5-seater airplane to Dadaab in Eastern Kenya, which is host to 170,000 Somali refugees, spread out in 3 camps. The camps are some distance from the border, and have been there for 16 years. But almost half of those refugees came to Kenya within the last few months due to insecurity caused by fighting between the transitional government and the Union of Islamic Courts.

The UN and its NGO (non-governmental organization) partners have done quite a good job of managing the camps and providing for the basic needs of the refugees. Security is quite strict, and it is necessary to have an escort for travel between each of the camps and the UN/NGO bases. The Government of Kenya does not allow the refugees to leave the Dadaab area, and so they have little or no opportunity to provide for themselves. This is a very arid part of Kenya, and not much grows here. Many Somalis are pastoralists and a number of the refugees have animals that they graze in the areas surrounding the camps. But basic food and non-food commodities, water, health care and education have to be provided by the international c infrastructure in that country. Thus, their time in the camps provides a unique opportunity to the international community.

In spite of these provisions, malnutrition rates in the camps are very high, and the organizations working there have come to the conclusion that it is not for lack of food. For example, the mother in this picture seems to be in very good health, compared to her visibly malnourished baby. The reasons seem to lie in the infant and young child feeding practices, such as giving babies sugar water after birth, giving babies liquids (such as animal milks) other than breastmilk during the first six months, giving weaning foods that do not have enough nutrients, etc. We heard that the number of admissions to the nutrition centers increases after Ramadan, indicating that some young children fast during that time like the adults. This is an area that we are ommunity. Here the refugees have exposure to education and health practices that they might not have in Somalia due to the poorhoping to do more research on so we can find ways of addressing the issues.

While in Kenya I also go to visit my old boss Keith and his family and to meet the darling Kenyan baby they are adopting – Fiona.

And I had a special treat before I left Kenya - I overlapped for two hours at the Nairobi airport with my brother Steve who lives in Niger.