Somali refugees struggle to observe holy month
No food to break Ramadan fast
The Associated Press
Posted: Aug 1, 2011 10:16 AM ET
Last Updated: Aug 1, 2011 1:06 PM ET
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan has begun, but Somali refugees fleeing the famine in their country say they don't have enough food for the traditional feast to break the fast at the end of the day.
A child eats a piece of bread at a food distribution centre in Dadaab, Kenya on Monday. Almost all of the refugees at the camp are from war-ravaged Somalia. Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press During Ramadan, most Muslims don't eat after sunrise and celebrate a day of fasting with a sundown feast.
But refugees from Somalia's famine say that they have been unintentionally fasting for lack of food.
Faduma Aden, a mother of three at the Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya, said Monday that she is participating in the fast even though she doesn't have food to break it. Aden said she wanted to participate because she fears God.
More than 440,000 refugees live at the Dadaab refugee complex. The camp is designed for 90,000 people.
Thousands of Somalis are fleeing the country daily because of the famine.
© The Associated Press, 2011
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