More than 2000 Somali refugees arrive every day in Dolo Ado in southern Ethiopia on the Kenya-Somali border. They all have a similar story: they are looking for food, the harvest failed in Somalia and there was nothing left to eat.
"Even though I have no shelter, nothing to wear and no pots to cook my food, I'm one of the lucky ones" said Aisha, a 45-year old widow who arrived there with her three small children and only the clothes on her back. "There are others who were left behind as they had nothing to sell to pay for their journey. They will simply die of hunger."
As she spoke, her youngest son chewed on a little piece of wood. "I have never in my life experienced such a drought," she added.
The journey was long, three days on foot and four days on an overcrowded truck. They had nothing to eat and had to beg for food along the way. Aisha arrived at Kobe, one of three refugee camps in the Dolo Ado area, a few days after the camp opened and all the tents were already occupied. She and her children currently sleep under a tree, covered by some cloths knitted together with twigs.
"At least we received some food as soon as we arrived: 70 kg of wheat and some split beans and oil for the whole family," said Aisha.
Somalia has been particularly hard hit by the current drought in the Horn of Africa. High food and fuel prices as well as the ongoing conflict have taken an additional toll. Not everyone is strong enough to make it to the Ethiopian border and those who do are clearly marked from their journey. Every second child arriving in Dolo Ado is malnourished - more than three times the emergency level. To give them immediate assistance WFP started distributing high energy biscuits on their arrival and fortified cooked food at the transit center where they are registered and wait for their final stage of their journey to the refugee camp.