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New York Times Learning Network & Global Nomads
 









Abdi Phenomenal appeared in this webcast on September 29th, 2011, in partnership with the New York Times Learning Network and Global Nomads. It was hosted by a diverse set of panelists to explore the historical causes and consequences of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Somalia.  Abdi spoke about his experience returning to the Dadaab Refugee Camp and the documentary with Poet Nation.



Crisis in the Horn of Africa: Understanding the Famine in Somalia
By HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO and KATHERINE SCHULTEN

For today’s lesson, we did something a little different: We collaborated with the Global Nomads Group, an international organization that creates interactive educational programs — video conferences, videos and other learning materials — for students about global issues, to foster dialogue and understanding about the world.


This lesson can be taught on its own or used in conjunction with Global Nomads’ Webcast “The Somalia Food Crisis: What Fuels the Famine?”scheduled for Sept. 29. If you are interested in participating with your classes, visit Global Nomad’s Web site.

Crisis in the Horn of Africa: Understanding the Famine in Somalia
This lesson plan was created in collaboration with Global Nomads Group.

Overview | What are the causes and aggravating factors of the famine in Somalia? With millions of people affected in the Horn of Africa, what is being done to address their problems, and what type of international aid are Somalis receiving? In this lesson, students view photographs of the crisis in Somalia, develop background knowledge about the country and then delve into the crisis there and the international response.

Materials | Photographs of, and facts about, the famine in Somalia for a gallery walk or slide show, computers with Internet access and projector (optional), student notebooks, resources about Somalia.

Note to Teacher | Some of the New York Times photographs about Somalia are graphic and may be disturbing to students. Please preview all images to determine appropriateness for your group, and consider allowing students not to view the more disturbing images.

Warm-Up | Before class, post New York Times photographs of the famine in Somalia around the room or prepare to show a slide show on a screen. Sources include these slide shows: “Famine in Somalia,” “Fleeing Somalia’s Drought” and “Waging War in Somalia, a Country in Chaos.”

Include in the gallery or on the screen at least three snippets of information about the situation in Somalia from New York Times coverage, like the following, all from the Times Topics page on Somalia:

“For a generation, Somalia has been a byword for the suffering of a failed state.”

“A combination of drought, war, restrictions on aid groups and years of chaos have pushed four million Somalis — more than half the population — into ‘crisis,’ according to the United Nations.”

“Is the world about to watch 750,000 Somalis starve to death? The rains will start pounding down in the fall, but before any crops will grow, disease will bloom. Malaria, cholera, typhoid and measles will sweep through immune-suppressed populations, aid agencies say, killing countless malnourished people.”

As they view the images and text, have students jot down reactions in their notebooks. Afterward, lead a brief discussion. Ask students to share the reactions. Had they been aware of what has been going on in Somalia? What do they already know about Somalia? What questions do they have after viewing these photos and hearing a little about the situation there? Record ideas and questions on the board.

Related | Jeffrey Gettleman’s Sept. 6 article, “U.N. Officials Say Famine Is Widening in Somalia,” makes clear the scope of the emergency there:

The United Nations announced Monday that Somalia’s famine had spread to a sixth area within the country, with officials warning that 750,000 people could die in the next few months unless aid efforts were scaled up.

A combination of drought, war, restrictions on aid groups and years of chaos have pushed four million Somalis — more than half the population — into “crisis,” according to the United Nations. Agricultural production is just a quarter of what it normally is, and food prices continue to soar.

“We can’t underestimate the scale of the crisis,” said Mark Bowden, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Somalia. “Southern Somalia is the epicenter of the famine area in the Horn of Africa. It’s the source of most of the refugees, and we need to refocus our efforts.”

Read the entire article with your class, using the questions below.

Questions | For discussion and reading comprehension:

  1. What factors go into the technical definition of famine?
  2. When did Somalia’s government collapse?
  3. What role has a militant group, Al Shabab, had in the crisis?
  4. What diseases are now causing serious problems in Somalia?
  5. What factors are mentioned in the article as contributing to the situation in Somalia


Activity | Start by having students pair up and read through the entire overview on theTimes Topics page and the C.I.A. World Factbook entry about Somalia, highlighting key information.


They should also find working definitions from reliable resources for the following terms:

Al Shabab
African Union (AU)
famine
insurgent
integrated food security phase classification (IPC)
internally displaced people (IDP)
malnutrition
transitional federal government (TFG)

Next, each pair should do one of the following:

  • Create word clouds, employing a free tool like Wordle, Tagxedo or Tag Crowd and using the Times Topics overview, another Times article about the crisis in Somalia or another article or resource on the subject. When all word clouds are complete, display each pair’s creation. What similarities are there? What differences? What did students learn from looking at the language used to talk about the crisis in Somalia?
  • Write informative captions for the photographs they looked at during the warm-up activity, drawing on what they read. Pairs can post their captions next to the photos for their classmates to view. The whole class can compare the captions written by various pairs as well as with those published in The New York Times along with the original photographs.

Once students are familiar with Somalia and the issues there, split the class into two groups, with half the pairs from the first part of the activity in one group and the other half in the other group.

Tell them that they will work in these larger groups to delve deeper into one aspect of the situation: Group 1 on the Somalia famine itself; and Group 2 on the international response and press coverage.

Group 1: The Somalia Famine

Group 1’s task is to investigate the role that politics and violence as well as natural disasters have played in the current famine and humanitarian crisis, which has resulted in the suffering of millions across East Africa.

Questions to consider include the following:

  • There are many environmental factors contributing to the famine, but what role do political factors play in affecting the situation? The Somali government? Al Shabab?
  • Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia, and should be a safe zone for the Somali people. What are some of the problems Somalis face upon entering the capital? Foreigners also face risks — what are they?
  • Somalis are finding refuge by fleeing to neighboring countries and settling into refugee camps. What is the situation within the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya?

Resources to use include all New York Times coverage of the famine inSomalia, including not only news stories and photographs, but also the editorial “Starving in Somalia”; the videos “Driven by Drought” and “Somalia’s Child Soldiers”; and the graphics “Somalia: A Country Broken Into Pieces” and“Conflict Exacerbates Drought and Famine in Somalia.” Students should also consult other reliable information sources.

Group 2: The International Response and Press Coverage

Group 2’s task is to find out how the international community has been responding to the famine, including what the challenges are in addressing the humanitarian crisis, how aid is reaching the people affected by the famine and what keeps aid from reaching its intended destination.

Questions to consider include the following:

  • What organizations and nations have contributed aid?
  • What factors have slowed contributions to aid for Somalia?
  • How much coverage in the news media has been devoted to the famine? By which news outlets? Can you tell the extent to which the issue is resonating with the public in comparison with other fairly recent humanitarian crises like, for example, the earthquake in Haiti?
  • How do aid groups operate in East Africa? What challenges do they face?

Resources to use include all New York Times coverage of aid efforts and challenges in East Africa, including a 2008 article that forecast the problems that Somalia would face, the TimesCast video “Photographing Somalia” and articles about food aid, fund-raising and military support. Students should also consult other reliable information sources.

When group work is finished, have each group present their findings to the other. Then come together and discuss the following questions: Why do you think there was a delay in getting the public’s attention? How are the United States and other countries trying to help Somalis affected by the famine? Why have organizations been unable to raise sufficient funds to end the famine? What obstacles are presented to aid organizations? Can you think of any other ways that money can be raised, or ensure that food aid reaches those most in need?

Going further | Participate in the Global Nomads Group webcast “The Somalia Food Crisis: What Fuels the Famine?” on Sept. 29.

Another way to take this further is to develop a service learning project in connection to the famine. You might consult ideas about how to help from organizations like the United Nations World Food Program.

Standards | This lesson is correlated to McREL’s national standards (it can also be aligned to the new Common Core State Standards):

Economics
10. Understands basic concepts about international economics.

Geography
1. Understands the characteristics and uses of maps, globes and other geographic tools and technologies.
2. Knows the location of places, geographic features and patterns of the environment.
3. Understands the characteristics and uses of spatial organization of earth’s surface.
4. Understands the physical and human characteristics of place.
5. Understands the concept of regions.
6. Understands that culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places and regions.
7. Knows the physical processes that shape patterns on earth’s surface.
8. Understands the characteristics of ecosystems on Earth’s surface.
9. Understands the nature, distribution and migration of human populations on earth’s surface.
10. Understands the nature and complexity of earth’s cultural mosaics.
11. Understands the patterns and networks of economic interdependence on earth’s surface.
12. Understands the patterns of human settlement and their causes.
13. Understands the forces of cooperation and conflict that shape the divisions of earth’s surface.
14. Understands the changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution and importance of resources.
15. Understands global development and environmental issues.

Language Arts
1. Gathers and uses information for research purposes.
2. Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process.
3. Uses skills and strategies to read a variety of informational texts.
4. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.

Life Skills: Working With Others
1. Contributes to the overall effort of a group.

 
 

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