#FEELMYPAIN

In 2018 a group of young diaspora left the UK to volunteer in hospitals in Somalia.  During their trip they had an enlightening road trip across the country and got to see and experience things they could have only dreamed of.

However they also saw things they are struggling to move on from. While volunteering in the hospitals the team saw the conditions patients and staff were having to cope with on a daily basis.

Having been born and raised in the UK, the expectation that the healthcare standard was not the same as that of the UK was understandable.  

On their watch they saw staff struggle with the lack of facilities and inadequate medical supplies - which clearly led to the limitation of medical care.

The supplies that they do have are either dated (very very old) or broken. Many huge blood banks were sitting untouched and unused with hospitals unable to afford to pay for a technician to fix them.

Doctors are unable to provide a tangible diagnosis because they do not have the correct technique required to deliver it. Nurses and midwives were giving substandard treatment due to low supplies and high demand. Risk of infections and misdiaogisis extremely high, the group were struggling to believe how bad the situation was. 


Many hospitals in the UK have dirty utility rooms and store rooms filled to the brim with supplies lasting months and months thanks to the NHS. Patients in the UK would never be short changed when it came to medical supplies required in their care and staff rarely struggle to care for them.

Doctors are turning away patients in Somalia when they are unable to perform the required tests to treat their patients. The fate of that patient is unbeknownst to us. Sadly we are not sure that the patient made it to somewhere were they could be treated adequately.

For a doctor this is heartbreaking. Having the power to treat sick patients has been stripped from them - this has left them feeling powerless in their role. 

Hospitals are running on fewer and fewer departments as they do not have the funds to help facilitate the required diagnostic tests. Most hospitals have stopped running microbiological testing as the price of Agar is too high - a priority at the moment is keeping the electricity going for the inpatients.

This is shocking to all those who have likely seen microbiological agar stocked to the brim in their UK Laboratories. 

The lack of medical supplies doesn't just affect the patients. Radiographers performing examinations for patients without the use of protective lead coats. Every time a member of staff takes an x-ray, this is at their own risk. But they have no choice, the need for the service outweighs the risk of overexposure to radiation. 

Staff are risking their lives so their patients can be scanned and looked after. Patients are losing their lives because staff are unable to perform the required diagnostic tests.

One lead coat could protect  a radiographer-   it could save their life.

One box of Agar could save a patients life. Their infection could be identified and treated with the correct class of antibiotic if bacterial.

Please help us raise money to provide medical supplies to hospitals in Somalia.  This is something we CAN do together and the impact it could make is immeasurable.

Everyone has the right to adequate healthcare and this is something we can take for granted in the western world.

All of the money we raise will go towards a list of equipment/diagnostic testing tools and hospital supplies which will aid in the treatment of patients and the protection of staff!

This Ramadan let us think, see and hear outside our ideal bubble and help those who are in pain. Those who are struggling to obtain what Allah (swt) has blessed us with.

Loved ones have lost family over something that cost less that a few pounds per unit. Let us change the way doctors and healthcare professionals deliver health to those in Somalia.

Please give generously - this campaign is aiming to raise £3000, anything more would only increase the number of supplies we can purchase and dissemble. We should feel their pain this Ramadan, let's be kind and generous -

On the authority of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who said,

”Whoever relieves a believer’s distress of the distressful aspects of this world, Allah will rescue him from a difficulty of the difficulties of the Hereafter"

This situation is dire and every second counts but we can fix this - if you wish to get more involved with the campaign please please please email: [email redacted]