15 Ramadhan 1432 / 15 August  2011

Dear Brothers

Assalamu Alaikum!

We thank Br Ismail (Izzy) for his sacrifice and service during this trying period for the benefit of our Ummah and our organization. Let us heed his advice highlighted below and not be too hasty in responding, despite the horrific situation of daily losses. A coordinated response has a greater impact than sporadic responses by individuals or individual organizations. Having said that, we are sensitive to those countries who have relief organizations of their own and their own strategic objectives e.g. Mercy Malaysia, Al-Khidmat, Doctors Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Gift of the Givers, Al-Imdaad, etc. So brothers, please prepare for the FIMA response coordinated by Br Ismail in collaboration with Islamic Relief and SOYDA (Somalia Young Doctors Association), by planning the medical missions, raising the necessary funds to support the missions or procuring the emergency supplies to accompany the missions. As many an elder in our organization has oft reminded us, we are not a relief organization but rather an organization of health (medical) professionals with expertise in relief and emergencies. Let us plan together! May Allah (SWT) reward you all and bless you all for your noble deeds, pure intentions and coordinated efforts.

Jazakumallah Khair

Ashraf Jedaar

Director FIMA Relief

+27836754103

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American Doctor Assesses Crisis Conditions, Relief Options in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia (Friday August 12, 2011)- As the famine and food shortage in East Africa worsens, an American doctor is observing the crisis and evaluating options to assist. Dr. Ismail Mehr, Relief Director for the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA), arrived in Mogadishu on Thursday to assess crisis conditions in the Somali capital. Dr. Mehr, an anesthesiologist from Hornell, New York, is believed to be the first American doctor to enter the nation to assist with this humanitarian disaster.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in southern Somalia in the past three months. The famine is a product of the worst drought to hit East Africa in more than sixty years compounded by decades of inadequate economic and human development.

Dr. Mehr traveled to Mogadishu after assessing the situation in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, where United Nations relief efforts are overwhelmed. Dr. Mehr re-affirmed reports of a dire situation in Dadaab. “I’ve visited several United Nations camps through my relief work in the past. They are usually well organized and well stocked with supplies. Tragically, international resources have been overrun by the scale of this disaster,” Dr. Mehr said.  According to the UNHCR, the refugee camp was built over 25 years ago and has an expanded capacity of 90,000. The famine has forced it to grow in the past three months to host over 440,000 refugees.

Dr. Mehr reports that nearly 2,000 new refugees are arriving in Dadaab each day. “Healthcare is overwhelmed, UN officials working inside the camp rushed to us when they heard we were assessing healthcare needs, telling us tales of how kids are dying in front of their eyes and they don’t have enough doctors to help,“ Dr. Mehr said. Dr. Mehr believes the situation in Mogadishu may be worse than that in Dadaab.

In the last three years, IMANA Relief has dispatched teams of American and Canadian doctors following disasters and conflict in Haiti, Darfur, the Tunisia-Libya border region, Pakistan and the Gaza Strip. American doctors have provided urgent care, performed complex surgical procedures, trained local doctors and established permanent clinics.

"Whether here in the US or on the ground in Somalia, we will marshal our resources towards the health and well being of those effected by this drastic calamity," said IMANA President Dr. Mohammed Al-Shroof, an internist from Warner Robins, Georgia.