SOMALIA: Volunteer workers in Somalia's capital Mogadishu are using a lull in fighting to begin cleaning up their city after years of government neglect

Record ID: 452217

  • Title: SOMALIA: Volunteer workers in Somalia's capital Mogadishu are using a lull in fighting to begin cleaning up their city after years of government neglect
  • Date: 29th May 2007
  • Summary: (AD1) MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (MAY 21, 2007) (REUTERS) CAR DRIVING DOWN STREET CLEANERS SHOUTING TWO CLEANERS SWEEPING THE STREET MORE OF PEOPLE SWEEPING THE STREET CROWD OF WORKERS HOLDING UP SPADES IN GROUP WOMEN SWEEPING GROUND LORRIES BEING FILLED WITH AND RUBBISH WHICH HAS BEEN CLEARED FROM THE STREETS. (SOUNDBITE) (Somali) MADINA HASSAN, VOLUNTEER, SAYING: "We watched our country being destroyed. It now needs reconstruction and sanitation. So we decided to improve the appearance of this city to show the international community that we can also do something." VARIOUS OF MALE AND FEMALE WORKERS PICKING UP RUBBISH AND PUTTING ONTO TRUCK BULLDOZER REMOVING SAND FROM STREET TRUCK CARRYING SAND VARIOUS OF BULLDOZER REMOVING SAND VARIOUS OF WORKERS AND VOLUNTEERS SWEEPING STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Somali) HALIMA SHUAIB, VOLUNTEER, SAYING: "We aren't getting any money from anyone, we are working as volunteers, we've decided to do this for the sake of our country." MORE OF WORKERS AND VOLUNTEERS SWEEPING STREET VARIOUS OF DAMAGED BUILDINGS CAR DRIVING DOWN STREET (AD1) MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (MAY 21, 2007) (REUTERS) CAR DRIVING DOWN STREET CLEANERS SHOUTING TWO CLEANERS SWEEPING THE STREET MORE OF PEOPLE SWEEPING THE STREET CROWD OF WORKERS HOLDING UP SPADES IN GROUP WOMEN SWEEPING GROUND LORRIES BEING FILLED WITH AND RUBBISH WHICH HAS BEEN CLEARED FROM THE STREETS. (SOUNDBITE) (Somali) MADINA HASSAN, VOLUNTEER, SAYING: "We watched our country being destroyed. It now needs reconstruction and sanitation. So we decided to improve the appearance of this city to show the international community that we can also do something." VARIOUS OF MALE AND FEMALE WORKERS PICKING UP RUBBISH AND PUTTING ONTO TRUCK BULLDOZER REMOVING SAND FROM STREET TRUCK CARRYING SAND VARIOUS OF BULLDOZER REMOVING SAND VARIOUS OF WORKERS AND VOLUNTEERS SWEEPING STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Somali) HALIMA SHUAIB, VOLUNTEER, SAYING: "We aren't getting any money from anyone, we are working as volunteers, we've decided to do this for the sake of our country." MORE OF WORKERS AND VOLUNTEERS SWEEPING STREET VARIOUS OF DAMAGED BUILDINGS CAR DRIVING DOWN STREET
  • Embargoed: 13th June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Topics: Health,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA89GV02IEP7ZLOKXRNRGG772FD
  • Story Text: Islamist rebels have waged a guerrilla campaign in the Somali capital of Mogadishu since the country's interim government and its Ethiopian allies seized control of the capital from them in late December. But a period of relative calm has prevailed in the troubled seaside city since at least 1,300 people were killed during battles in March and April.
    The government, which claims the insurgency has been defeated and the city pacified, has begun trying to clean up a city left without a central administration, public services or basic health care for over a decade. But the size of the task has not deterred this small group of workers who are trying to get large piles of rubbish off the city's streets. Their efforts have also put them at risk; the use of roadside bombs is on the rise and there have been threats by anti-government parties.
    "We watched our country being destroyed. It now needs reconstruction and sanitation. So we decided to improve the appearance of this city to show the international community that we can also do something," says Madina Hassan, one of the workers.
    Although the workers have the support of Mogadishu's new mayor Mohamed Dhere, he can't afford to pay them yet.
    "We aren't getting any money from anyone, we are working as volunteers, we've decided to do this for the sake of our country," says Halima Shuaib, one of the volunteers.
    The volunteers hope that their endeavours will eventually earn them jobs. But their dreams may take a long time to come true.
    The Islamist militants have threatened to wage an Iraq-style insurgency and the UN warns that the government has underestimated the humanitarian crisis. A visit by the body's top aid official John Holmes was cut short after a insurgent bombs killed three people.
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