Hargeysa. Distribution d'un message Croix-Rouge. Hargeysa. Distributing a Red-Cross message. Extract from 9/7/2007 Feature on ICRC web site: Somalia helping separated families stay in touch. Somalia is a country wracked by conflict and a series of natural disasters. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes seeking food, water and safer grazing lands for their livestock in other parts of the country. Some leave the country altogether to become refugees languishing in holding camps in neighbouring lands. Anab still lives in Somalia. The home she shares with her daughter is a makeshift shelter put together from corrugated iron sheeting. Her other daughter is in Al-Kharaz, a refugee camp in Yemen where thousands of Somalis have fled. ICRC local staff collect messages from Somali refugees in Yemen to enable them to stay in touch with their families. Often, this is the only way they can stay in touch, albeit a few words to ease the pain of separation. "I am well, in good health. Say hello to family and friends." These messages are precious, maintaining a fine thread of social cohesion and relieving the burden of loneliness for many. Anab knows Maulid well – he's one of the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) volunteers who delivers her daughter's messages. "I deliver messages from all around the world" Maulid says proudly. "They come from all over Somalia but also from Africa, Europe and even from America". Anab will reply to the latest news from her daughter, but she wants to take her time over it and so she will bring her message to the SRCS office when it's ready. "My daughter sends me long letters, I read them again and again, - until the next Red Cross Message comes", says Anab.