LEARNING RECORDS

Date: 11/10/17
Questions: What is Somalia? What does significant feature/reputation/event this
country have?
Summary:
- Somalia is located at the Northeast part of Africa, called as Horn of Africa.
- Its population is around 14 million people.
- Its area is around 600,000 km2 .
- Peoples major speaking languages are Somali, Arabic, Italian, English.
- Its an Islamic country.
- Life expectancy is 54 years for men and 57 years for women.
- The country is located near Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya, and next to Indian
Ocean.

Analysis and Opinion:

From the information found, Somalia is just a small country located in the continent
of Africa. It has almost the same areas size as Thailand, but its population is
about five times less that Thais population. It might have a problem with birth rate
or death rate that affects the number of population to be like this. Otherwise, it
might have the problem with the area that it has like people can not live in the
particular area. But by looking at the low life expectancy, Id guess that the
problem is with the first hypothesis. There might be a problem that worsen the
living conditions of people, it might be the common problem occurring in many
countries in Africa too. Therefore, Ill research about the problem in next research
further.

References:
- Somalia country profile. (2017, September 04). Retrieved October 11, 2017,
from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094503
- Somalia Fast Facts. (2017, September 18). Retrieved October 11, 2017, from
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/10/world/africa/somalia-fast-facts/index.html
- The World Factbook: SOMALIA. (2017, November 14). Retrieved October 11,
2017, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/
so.html
- - Thailandometers. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2017, from
http://www.thailandometers.mahidol.ac.th/

Date: 16/10/17
Questions:
How was Somalia formed? How was it affected by imperialism?
Summary:
- The country was influenced by France, and British and Italian protectorate.
- The British(1887) and Italian(1889) took control of Somalias coastal area:
forming of British Somaliland and Italian Somalia.
- The area, or a part, of Somalia is also disputed between Italy and Ethiopia
(Italian linked with parts of Ethiopia and formed a province of Italian East Africa).
- There were great conflicts like when British and Italian were trying to occupy
each others part(around 1940-1941) and when Italian and Ethiopia were having
conflict on the Ogaden (a large region of Somalia).
- British Somaliland and Italian Somalia merged by The Somali National Assembly.
- On 1 July 1960, Somalia became independent, from promise of the United
Nations Trusteeship (since April 1950).
- It took more than ten years for Somalia making peace with Ethiopia after the
Ogaden war.
(Additional)
- Country joined the Arab league.
- The League's main goal is to "draw closer the relations between member States
and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence
and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of
the Arab countries

Analysis and Opinion:

The history of Somalia has involved with four major countries: France, Britain, Italy
and Ethiopia. However, it was mainly affected by the occupying of Britain and Italy.
Even the country has tried to maintain the stability and its independence, like when
it joined Arab league, there were still plenty of conflicts occurring between Somalia
and its protectorates and borders over long period of time before it actually
received independence. Nevertheless, the information researched about imperialism
and external conflicts of the country might not clearly explain how Somalia has
become how it is today enough. So, Ill try to find clearer and more significant
events in internal conflicts of the country in the next research instead.

References:
- Somalia profile - Timeline. (2017, September 04). Retrieved October 16, 2017,
from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094632
- Somalia country profile. (2017, September 04). Retrieved October 16, 2017,
from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094503
- (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2017, from http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/
PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad20
- Endless war: a brief history of the Somali conflict. (2015, July 23). Retrieved
October 16, 2017, from http://www.c-r.org/accord-article/endless-war-brief-
history-somali-conflict
- Profile: Arab League. (2017, August 24). Retrieved October 16, 2017, from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-15747941

Date: 17/10/17
Questions:
What are significant internal conflicts/events in Somalia that might affect or make
the country become how it is today?
Summary:
- Muhammad Siad Barre seized power(1969) after the previous prime minister had
been assassinated, then he announced Somalia a Socialist state and nationalised
economy.
- There was a conflict within Muhammads regime, and he fled the country; the
country collapsed into anarchy.
- Tens of thousands of people were dead and towns were affected.
- The conflict destroyed Somalia's crops and brought widespread famine.
- Food and resources had been used by the warring militias.
- British protectorate declared unilateral independence (escaped the chaos and
violence in Somalia).
- UN peacekeeper were sent to help Somalia with more than 35,000 troops.
- Mogadishu was dived and the situation of the country got worsen.
- UN troops were evacuated and left Somalia with failed mission.
- US army that arrived at Somalia before had a battle with Somali after their
helicopters were shot down by Somali militias; hundreds of Somalis died during
the battle.
- Somalia broke away from US in 1991.
- Meanwhile, drought and starvation started to spread in the country since 1974.
Analysis and Opinion:
The information researched today further indicates that conflicts in Somali, both
internal and external aggravated the countrys situation. The conflicts forced Somali
to use their resources and money for supporting their own militias and didnt allow
Somali people to do works for improving their survival and for developing their
country further. Also, the country broke away its relations and supports from
powerful country like Britain, U.S.A. and Soviet. Moreover, the crops production and
people living conditions were worse or failed because of the drought that severely
took part in late 19s. All these events caused Somalia to be in crisis and made
Somali people confront the problem of poverty and hunger which lasted until
nowadays.

References:
- Somalia profile - Timeline. (2017, September 04). Retrieved October 17, 2017,
from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094632
- (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2017, from http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/
PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad20
- Greenfield, R. (1995, January 02). Obituary: Mohamed Said Barre. Retrieved
October 17, 2017, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-
mohamed-said-barre-1566452.html


Date: 8/11/2017 - 9/11/2017

Questions:
How has the problem/issue of poverty and hunger affected Somalia?
Summary:
- The situation of poverty and hunger in Somalia now is critical. People are dying
of hunger and there is no water, even in the rescue camps. About 6.2 million
people, which is more than half of the population, are in need of sustained food
assistance and their lives are now at risk of falling into a food security and
nutrition crisis. The situation is even worse after the several years of drought.
There are approximately 738,600 people displaced by drought between
November 2016 and May 2017. Moreover, there are 3.2 million people in
Somalia confronting the severe crisis of food insecurity and a frequently high
rates of malnutrition. Approximately, one in every eight under-five children is
malnourished.
- When there are problems of poverty and hunger occurred in the country for a
long period of time, living conditions of the population gets worse. Somalia
remains as one of the poorest countries in Africa. Many people died, the one
whos alive confronts many further problems: infections and committing crimes
to survive.
- People in Somalia are living with HIV or AIDS and many types of diseases, such
as malaria, typhoid fever, dengue fever, bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis and much
more. Moreover, they even dont have enough money for their basic needs, so
undoubtedly, theres no spares for them for their health care, and further for
their education.
- Children that suppose to go to school, pick up guns instead of books, which
emphasised the extreme of poverty, hunger and instability of peoples lives.
Since these children grew up without any education, so instead of working for
money, they rob. Extreme poverty is one of the big reasons why they decide to
commit crimes. One of the biggest crime that affect our world is Somali Piracy.
They often hijack cargo ship and take what they need such as money or cargo
if they have. They also held hostages and ransom. Some of Somali pirates got
arrested and some were facing death. Even though, they got arrested or die
they still think that its better to risk.

Analysis and Opinion:

The problem of poverty and hunger is very obvious in Somalia, or in Africa, but the
statistics and circumstances are very shocking. The situation is way above critical
level. Every single person in the country is now facing this problem and living in
this severe condition, and more than half of them is at risk. People are lack of their
basic needs. The problem also leads to many other problems such as, food
insecurity leads to malnutrition and infections, poorness leads to lack of education
and country developments and crimes. The more this problem lasts, the more
people are affected. If the country doesnt fix it as soon as possible, the situation
will get worse. So, the next thing to be considered is what the country has done
to solve it or what suggestion should we come up with to help the country.

References:
- Proverties. (2013, March 22). Poverty and Famine in Somalia. Retrieved
November 08, 2017, from https://www.poverties.org/blog/famine-in-somalia
- Somalia drought: More than 100 die from hunger in one region. (2017, March
04). Retrieved November 8, 2017, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-
africa-39166746
- Causes and Solutions to Hunger in Somalia. (2016, December 08). Retrieved
November 8, 2017, from https://borgenproject.org/causes-solutions-hunger-
somalia/
- Ten Important Facts to Know About Hunger in Somalia. (2017, November 27).
Retrieved November 9, 2017, from https://borgenproject.org/10-facts-about-
hunger-in-somalia/
- 11 June 2015 Photo WFP/David Orr. (2015, June 11)10 Facts About
Hunger In Somalia | WFP | United Nations World Food Programme - Fighting
Hunger Worldwide. Retrieved November 9, 2017, from https://www.wfp.org/
stories/10-facts-about-hunger-somalia
- McKenzie, D., & Swails, B. (2017, March 08). Somalia: 'People are dying..there's
no water'. Retrieved November 9, 2017, from http://edition.cnn.com/
2017/03/07/africa/somalia-famine-united-nations/index.html

Date: 24/11/2017
Questions:
Where is the problem worse in Somalia? Why? and How?
Summary:
- The food security, that can lead to malnutrition and cause disease, declined in
most urban areas, because of the rise of prices and the decline of income.
Almost all of southern regions have confronted the wage rate dropping,
especially in Mogadishu and Bakool that have the rate dropped 25 to 30 percent
below average. It is even more difficult for poor households, who are facing
failure in production and have to depend on the markets for food like in Bay and
Bakool, to access food because of price spikes and income declining too. Other
areas that are confronting the severe drought and poor rainfall such as Sanaag,
Bari, Sool and Nugaal more urgently require humanitarian assistance for averting
a famine. Having limited access to sufficient food makes the situation worse, so
many have got poor health and body conditions and some have died as a result
of the drought. Thus, many of them loan and sell their own livestock as a
solution, which sometimes dont success. It further leads to a high numbers of
people, approximately 250,000, displaced to main cities for searching assistance.
From November 2016 to March, over 536,000 people have been displaced
internally and externally.
- In this case, the problem is worse in Bay in the southwestern region of Somalia.
The background situation is already worse, because of the severe drought which
came from extremely low level of rainfall and the emergency level of food
security, compared to other regions. Bays situation got worse by the numerous
displacement, approximately 26,000 people, from other regions to Baidoa, its
capital, as mentioned. The displaced people contributes to the high density of
population to 20 to 50 persons per square kilometre and more in some places,
which further increases the difficulty of accessing food among citizens.

Analysis and Opinion:

It is very difficult to specify which part of Somalia has been affected by the
problem the most because every single parts of Somalia is extremely affected in
crisis level. For example, when we look at the rainfall map, theres barely
differences between each cities and areas because most areas have the same level
at 30% below average. However, it can be seen that Bay is the most affected area
by comparing maps that contain rates which caused/worsened/indicate the problem
of poverty and hunger in Somalia: food insecurity map, rainfall map, drought map,
population den sity map and displaced people map.

References:
- Somalia drought & famine update. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2017, from
https://www.somalispot.com/threads/somalia-drought-famine-update.19245/
- Brocchetto, M., & Bloom, D. (2017, March 07). Somalia drought: 110 die amid
fears of famine. Retrieved November 24, 2017, from http://edition.cnn.com/
2017/03/04/africa/somalia-drought-deaths/index.html
- Famine Early Warning Systems Network. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2017,
from http://www.fews.net/east-africa/somalia/alert/january-16-2017
- Somalia drought: More than 100 die from hunger in one region. (2017, March
04). Retrieved November 24, 2017, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-
africa-39166746