Gar Gar Foundation Charity

There are thousands of people from Somaliland who live in Sheffield and we recognise and appreciate the important contribution they make to the City and the close ties Sheffield has with Somaliland.

My visit to Somaliland in January was for me a life changing visit. To see a people living and surviving in such difficult conditions made me realize how relatively easy life is in this Country.

I’d like to look particularly at the life of Somaliland Women.

The maternal and infant mortality rate in Somaliland is extremely high. For a Woman, having a child is one of the most dangerous things they can do.

Limited provision of quality healthcare in the horn of Africa means that for every 100,000 live births, 1,400 of them will be still born and 90 out of 1000 children will die before the age of 5.  Sadly, 42 out of every 1000 new born will die within the first month of life, whilst almost 4000 women will die each year in childbirth.  

Women lack the sense of control over their own health, as any treatment they require, whether for a broken leg, or an emergency caesarean section, needs to be first approved by the man of the family (father, husband, brother or eldest son).  This can prove difficult and even fatal in emergencies if the men are away or out of contact. 
Women and girls are also at risk from the complications, both physically and mentally, of female genital mutilation that leads the women of Somaliland to their graves during pregnancy and childbirth

While little girls are the mothers of tomorrow, we all know that they are fed the leftovers from whatever the family is eating. Does anyone worry that her growth may become stunted because of chronic malnutrition and anaemia? That she might develop a contracted pelvis? What will happen when she gets married and her narrow pelvis cannot permit the passage of the babies she will be expected to bear and produce? How many women have access to a health facility that can perform a Caesarean section to save the lives of the baby and its mother before the labour becomes obstructed?

Quite often, when a family has to decide which of their children can be sent to school, it is often the girls who are left behind. Illiteracy affects the health and survival outcome of women. The lower their education level, the higher their risk of health problems, including those associated with their reproductive life.

Once the girl is married, immediate and frequent fertility is expected of her without taking into consideration whether or not her body can take care of the baby she will conceive. Women, therefore, produce as many children as they can to ensure their place in their new home.

As if all her other misfortunes were not enough in themselves, harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) are performed on them and affect the health of women and children in many African countries. FGM affects and damages the perineum and the pelvic floor muscles of women and is a major cause of laceration of the perineum during childbirth, as well as damage to the urethra and rectum resulting in fistula formation.

While in Somaliland in January I spoke to the Female leader of the Human Rights project, she described to me the lifelong problems she has experienced since being subjected to FGM as a young girl.

Women having babies who are at a time of their greatest need for skilled medical or midwifery assistance are often at the mercy of relatives or other individuals who have received no or insufficient training in the care of women during childbirth.

The woman does not know nor seek proper medical care because she does not know that this is her right. Many women die of mismanagement with her relatives blaming her misfortune on “evil spirits” or “the evil eye of other women who were jealous of her baby.”

The health facilities are so ill-equipped and poorly staffed that even if women get taken there, there is very little that can be done for them. More often than not, women arrive at these health facilities when their situation is too advanced and cannot be helped. How can infections be avoided when many health facilities have no water, gloves, disinfectants, sterilizers or dressings?

But there is hope, many international health organisations are now working in Somaliland to bring better medicine and better health care.
But delegating women to a second-class status does not necessarily raise men to a first-class status. When they do, they are denying their sisters, wives and daughters the education, decision-making and the possibility to rise to their fullest potential. In short, men lose when they prevent women from becoming full partners in all the challenges that life brings.
The prevention of maternal mortality is the basic right of all women and must be made a priority in Somaliland. The urgency of the situation warrants vastly heightened attention. Otherwise, the pledges and statements of health as a human right will continue to be words printed on paper
I will never forget the visit we made to Sheffield Village outside Burra, particularly the huge number of Women who turned out to welcome us, when we spoke to them to thank them for coming to see us and asked them what we could do for them and they all said we need a hospital for the Women and children.
So that’s why we are here today: We can do something to help the Women of Sheffield Village, we can build them a Maternity Hospital, we can give them the clean modern up to date facility they so desperately need, but we can only do it with your help and support.
I urge you to put aside your divisions and arguments aside and join with us to raise the funds to build the Sheffield Maternity Hospital in Sheffield Village.