"The most shocking experience that I ever witnessed was in 1974, when the infamous drought called Daba-Dheer (Long-tail) swept through the Somali Peninsula. It was the worst drought ever to happen to the Somali people, especially the north and the area called the haud. Majority of Somalis back then were camel herders. I was in Burao and Erigabo at the time, where we used to bring Somali nomads into large camps. What I saw lead me to believe that it was the End of Times. If you saw what I saw, you would give up on life. Every day we used to mass bury hundreds of Somali bodies, mostly children. There was no time and resources to dig them a separate grave so we were forced to a lay them in to one big grave. We used to send and receive status telegrams back then and I remember one particular telegram that read, today the death toll is 160 which is at its lowest. The international community was slow in its response but we had the Russians at our side and Somalis, from the south to the north were working like one body. The Somali government back then asked the Russians to lend them their biggest planes, these massive military planes. Hundreds of thousands of Somali nomads and their remaining livestock were then transported to south Somalia where new settlements were created absence of the drought. Without those big planes and the rapid relocation program to the south of Somalia, over half a million Somalis would have perished."
"Naxdintii igu waynayd aan arko waxay ahayd 1974 markii ay dhacday abaartii Daba-Dheer. Waxay ahayd abaartii ugu darnayd ee soo marta gayiga Soomaaliyeed, waxay ahayd abaartii ugu xumayd ku dhacda dadka soomaaliyeed gaar ahaan dhanka Waqooyiga iyo dhulka Hawdka.Berrigaas, Soomaalidu inteeda badan waxay u badnaayeen dad xoolo-dhaqato ah. Anigu waxaan sanadkaas joogay Burco, marna Ceerigaabo oo waan ka qeyb-qaatay badbaadida dadka Soomaaliyeed. Dadkii baanu kaamam aad u waawayn isugu keenay. Naxdintaas aan usoo joogay waxaan is iri malaha waa yawmul qiyaamihii. Nolol baa ka quusaysa. Boqolaal ruux oo Soomaaliyeed, oo u badnaa caruur, baa maalinkasta aasi jirney. Maynaan haysan dhaqaale iyo qalab ku filan oo qofkasta lagu aaso xabaal u gooni ah dantu waxay inagu khasabtay in xabaalo wadareed lagu aaso dadkii dhintay. Taleefano ma jirin wakhtigaas, taar baa la isku diri jiray. Waxaan xasuusta mid ku qoran, maanta dhimashada wey yar tahay waa 160. Beesha Caalamka wey ka gaabsadeen in ay noo so gurmadaan laakin wakhtigaa Ruushkii baa joogay oo xiriir wanaagsan inaga dhexeeyey, ummada Soomaaliyeedna waqooyi ilaa koonfur wey is caawiyeen. Dawladii berigaas jirtay waxay ka deensatay dawladda Ruuskha diyaarado waaweyn oo kuwa hubka waaweyn qaada. Kuwaas dadkii oo kumanaan kun gaaraya iyo xoolahoodi lagu guray, dabadeedna la geeyey meelo looga diyaariyey ee gobolada Koonfureed ku yaalaa. Diyaaradahas iyo barnaamijka dib-u-dejinta runti Soomaalida dhibaateysana wey caawisay, waayo hadi la weyn lahaa, ku dhawaad nus milyan Soomaali baa ku nafwaayi lahaa lahaa abaartaas."
(London, Boqortooyada Ingiriiska)
