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When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed. Dial Books for Young Readers, 2020. 9780525553915. 264pp including an afterward to the graphic novel and author's notes by both Mohamed and Jamieson, plus photos of Fatuma, Hassan, and Omar. http://www.powells.com/book/-9780525553915?partnerid=34778&p_bt

Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, live in a Dadaab, an enormous refugee camp in Kenya. When they fled Somalia years earlier, they lost their mother, and they hope to find her again. Fatuma, a woman from Somalia who is alone in the camp, functions as their foster mother. Theirs is a miserable, boring existence much of the time --fetching water, rationing what little food they get, trying to ignore their hunger -- but Omar and Hassan play together and with other friends, particularly Omar's best friend Jeri.

Omar sees it as his job to take care of Hassan, who is kind but needs looking after; the only ever says one word, "Hooyo!" So when Omar has a chance to start going to school, he's not sure studying is the right decision for them even though it may lead to a better life, and even if they spend their entire lives in the camps. And after he does start school, it's difficult for him to continue studying. (It's not much of a spoiler to let you know that Omar is quite a student.)

When Omar and Hassan finally get an interview with the UN Resettlement Agency, it doesn't lead straight to resettlement. There's jealousy and hurt feelings as some folks that they know get to leave the camp, and a lot of waiting and uncertainty and heartbreak. It's all broken up by bits of joy though. One of my favorite parts of the book is when everyone, after fasting for Ramadan, gives the kids candy on Eid Al-Fitr.

A few years ago, Jamieson began volunteering as a cultural liaison for refugees, and met Omar Mohamed through his work. The result is this slightly fictionalized version of Mohamed's life story, an amazing, touching graphic novel about love, friendship, hope, and the value of education that belongs in all school and public libraries.

Here's a link to the organization Mohamed founded, Refugee Strong. http://www.refugeestrong.org/

#bookreview #graphicnovel #graphicnovelreview #kidsgraphicnovel #dadaab #refugeestrong

Two teens wanted to help refugee parents get their kids vaccines and the nutrition they need. So the teens built a website to help — and paired it with GPS trackers.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — New moms have a lot on their minds. That stress is even worse if those moms are raising their kids in a refugee camp like Dadaab Refugee Complex in the East African nation of Kenya. Now, two teens have designed a website and locator system to help those moms remember when they and their kids need to get to the doctor. And if the parents can’t get to the doctor, the system lets a health worker instead find them.

Kunjal Bharatkumar, 15, and Supraja Sayee Srinivasan, 15, are 10th graders at the Shree Cutchi Leva Patal Samaj School in Nairobi, Kenya. The two wanted to help mothers and children in Kenya get the health care they needed.

Explainer: What is a vaccine?

Supraja notes that between 2013 and 2018, 68,882 children in Kenya died of diseases that could have been prevented with vaccines — drugs that help the body become immune to a disease. Unfortunately, mothers in refugee camps may not know what vaccines their children need, and which ones they have already had.

Another big healthcare issue: “About 73,000 children in Kenya are malnourished,” Supraja says. In many cases, parents don’t get the proper information on what their children need. “We felt that technology does have the power to save these lives,” she says.

To tackle that, Kujal and Supraja created a website called “Mother and Child Health Care.” This site allows doctors and parents to track what vaccines kids need. It can also take a child’s height and weight and calculate whether they are seriously underweight. If they are, it recommends a diet to help the child achieve a healthy weight.

#science #sciblr #scied #health #maternal health #children's health #pediatric care #GPS #refugee camp #Kenya #Dadaab

Dagahaley refugee camp in Dadaab, near the Kenya-Somalia border April 2011. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya 3000x1753

#aerial #refugee #dadaab #kenya #africa

"What happened to your other earring?"

"I lost it a while back, but I got used to it now. My friends gave me new nickname because of it: ‘one earring’. I don’t care; I still look pretty cool."

(Children of Dadaab Refugee Camp)

"Maxaa ku dhacay waysaqaagi kale?"

"Waxay iga luntay muddo ka hor, laakiin hadda waan la qabsaday. Saaxiibaday waxay ii bixiyeen naaneys cusub: 'Hal waysaaq'. Laakiin runti, dan kama lihi, weli waxan ahay qof qurux badan."

(Caruurta Xerada Qaxootiga ee Dadhaab)

#somalifaces #dadaab #kenya #children #somali #innocence #pretty #africa

0.005842°S, 40.340774°E west of Dadaab, Garissa County, Kenya photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters — Today the randomizer takes us less than a kilometer from the equator, and less than a mile from the Hagadera Refugee Camp, where over 100,000 Somalis have fled from the civil war in Somalia. Hagadera opened in 1992, meaning that many adults have lived their entire lives there.

#Dadaab #Garissa #Kenya