A quiet night in the streets of
Baidoa ended in turmoil as a huge fire in Baidoa market engulfed numerous stalls
and a warehouse. The fire consumed property and stock
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, rendering hitherto low and middle
income families destitute. Hundreds of town residents battled the raging fire
over three hours but salvaged almost nothing.
Lishwa Nurow Adan, a mother of
eight children lost her stock of over $4,700 as well as $14,400 in cash that
she kept in the store. “I stopped trusting the bank, when people were cut
off from their own money and Al Barakat bank’s activities was frozen,
that is why I kept my money in the shop’’.
Ibrahim Issaaq, married to two
wives with ten children, sold shoes, mainly women’s, but also stocked
children’s and men’s shoes at the market. “I take over $2,000 worth of
shoes from wholesale suppliers on credit, sell the shoes at a profit and pay my
supplier’’. He lost his entire stock.
Danwadaag,
which means 'common
interest sharing',
is a community driven
development initiative designed to enhance stability and boost
recovery in Baidoa. The
initiative is led by a task force elected from the community, and supported by
Danish Demining Group and the Stability Fund. Though the initiative is aimed at
longer-term development activities, understanding the need to take account of
immediate needs in the wake of the fire, and in the Danwadaag spirit, the task force held several meetings with the
local authorities and the business community to consider ways to assist the affected
traders. A committee of nine members, comprising representatives from
the local authority, business community, religious leaders and victims agreed to raise funds from the local
community. The community contributed over $33,000 to which the Danwadaag initiative added a further $72,000.
Lisha Nurow Adan received $3,500
USD as cash grant. It did not cover all her losses, but she is optimistic that
she can rebuild her humble business. “It has taken me over 12 years to
establish the business I lost to the fire, but I can start again.”
“It is the first time since the fire disaster
that I managed to smile“, said Ibrahim Issaaq who also received a cash grant. His biggest worry was how to pay his creditors.
“Now with this amount I can take it to the suppliers and they will lend me
shoes worth double the amount.’’
The Stability Fund and Danish
Demining Group are committed to enabling the community-led Danwadaag initiative to continue to press ahead with its effort to
bring long-term sustainable change, but without losing sight of unforeseen,
immediate priorities that come with accidents and natural disasters.
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