Aw-Barre refugee camp, circa 2008
LWF World Service Ethiopia started responding to the Somali refugee crisis in on Somali Regional State following the large influx into Aw-Barre, Kebribeyah and Sheder refugee camps in 2007. Nine years on, LWF World Service Ethiopia continues to manage the water supply system and provide livelihood opportunities to refugees in Aw-Barre and Sheder camps where refugees are languishing in a protracted refugee situation. With increasing number and more headline-grabbing competing humanitarian crises, Somali refugees are caught up in protracted refugee situations and witnessing decreasing funding, crumbling infrasructure and declining provision of basic services. The inadequate services and facilities are exacerbated by the lack of durable solutions such as local integration, voluntary repatriation and resettlement which remain as elusive as ever. LWF World Service Ethiopia together with the united Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Administration for Refugees and Returnees Affair (ARRA) and other partners continues to work in both camps ensuring a dignified life in asylum.
17 October 2016
Photos: LWF Ethiopia
Aw-Barre refugee camp, circa 2008
Ibid.
Shelter in Aw-Barre refugee camp
A young Somali woman with her baby in Aw-Barre refugee camp
Traditional water well
LWF World Service Ethiopia-installed shallow well with a hand pump
Women pumping water, now near to their homesteads
A girl pumping water
The ubiquitous yellow 20 lit jerry cans
A time to fetch water but also a time to socialize
Washing a blanket with the feet
Pumping water
A young man pumping water - not a gender-seggregated role at least in this camp
Fecthing water with a smile, no longer a major chore and a long treacherous trek
Drip irigation as part of the livelihood support
Ibid.
Gone harvesting, a Somali man with a sickle on his head
World Service Director Eberhard Hitzler, an the then Resident Representative of LWF World Service Ethiopia John Halvorson and Ato Bodja Program Coordinator visiting with and sharing a laugh with children, Aw-Barre refugee camp.
Visiting a water installation
Meeting with local authorities
Young Somali women
Ibid
Ibid.
The beautiful bright colours of Somali women's attire
The happy children of Aw-Barre
Song and dance at the heart of Somali culture
Ibid.
and for women of all ages...
Ibid.
A job well done
Visitors go, refugees stay..
Addis Ababa Office
P.O. Box 40132
Woreda 6, House No. 910
Arada Kifle Ketema
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Enquiries: lwf.ethiopia@lutheranworld.org