The past few weeks had been challenging, as I had to decide between buying gifts for family and friends in Maine or sending donations to support my family and friends who are ravaged by serious water and food shortages. The recent droughts that hit parts of Somalia and Kenya are affecting 2.3 million people and displacing hundreds of thousands more from their homes.
It is hard getting into the Christmas spirit when beloved family members get their drinking water from boreholes in the dry earth and are forced to face the harsh realities of the climate crisis.
Abdi Nor Iftin is a Somali-American writer, radio journalist and public speaker. He lives in Yarmouth.
The entire continent of Africa is responsible for only 4% of the world’s carbon emissions, while its nations remain among those most vulnerable to climate change. On the other hand, the United States is responsible for 28% of the world’s carbon emissions. Anyone in my place who hears their families describe the harsh realities of climate change can understand how serious this issue is.
On social media, I saw not only photos that close friends shared of animals lying dead from lack of water and food but also of thousands of families walking hundreds of miles to cities to find food and drinking water. But the cities are not better either; my family remains in one of the largest locally displaced camps on the outskirts of Mogadishu and they see the direct effects of climate-related hazards. The makeshift camp that hosted a few hundred thousand locally displaced a few months ago is now home to more than 1 million people.
My mother says she spends her entire day searching for water. Most of the time she goes to boreholes, narrow, deep holes made in the ground. She joins a long line of families waiting with jerrycans, containers for liquid made from pressed steel. Everything else has dried up. In the last few days as we have been busy ordering our Christmas presents, mothers who walked for days were returning home to their toddlers with some water and maybe some food, not gifts.
In the months and years to come, more people will have to abandon their homes and flee. Natural disasters – not conflicts – will be the major driver of displacement and will produce more refugees around the globe. Now is the time for the conversation around climate change to start at home. Talk to children and other family members about the challenges humans face and the amount of carbon our countries release that affects the world. It’s time we address this climate crisis as an urgent issue the same way we address other issues that force us to rally.
Christmas comes and goes and we carry the happy stories over to the next holiday season. Maine’s Christmas charms are irresistible; they put smiles on my face even during the difficult times when I worry about my family’s welfare. The nightly glow of Christmas – the lighted Christmas trees and the endless Christmas songs played at coffee shops and grocery stores – bring so much joy to our souls and are things I want my family members to see someday. I only wish every human on Earth could have access to these joyful moments. I wish more Americans would also know how lucky they are to have these peaceful moments.
This Christmas will be different for many of Maine’s newest arrivals, particularly those whose families are trapped in the worst climate crises happening this year, not to mention the conflicts between rival groups in the area most affected in the world by climate change.
As you open your gifts this year, remember to be thankful. But also remember you have to do your part to address the climate crisis.
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