In the dry, sun-scorched terrain of Kiliminsige Kebele, Dolo Ado Woreda, in Ethiopia’s Somali Region, the story of Mumow Elemey Elekey and her family shows just how much of a difference timely support can make when it reaches people before disaster strikes.
For more than thirty years, wife and husband Mumow and Idagey Abdulle Gubow built a life grounded in love, labor, and resilience. Together, they raised five children, two sons and three daughters, on a small, one-hectare farm. They grew maize for their meals, sold tomatoes and lemons at the local market, and cared for a small herd of goats. Life was hard, but it was full of purpose.
Then came the fall that changed everything: Ten years ago, Idagey suffered a life-altering accident. Falling from a bajaj, a common three-wheeled motor vehicle, he sustained serious spinal injuries and a broken leg. Despite treatment at Dolo Ado Hospital, he became bedridden, unable to walk and speak. In a single moment, the foundation of the household was shaken, and the full weight of responsibility shifted to his wife.
Mumow became a caregiver, farmer, provider, and protector. Every day, she managed the household and the farm while attending to her husband’s daily needs. Their two youngest daughters, Fatuma, 14 years old, and Samira, 10, fetched water, collected firewood, and cared for the goats. Yet they still found the strength to attend school each day, holding tightly to dreams of one day becoming teachers, doctors, or women who could help uplift their community. Their eldest brother, 21 years old, stepped in to fill the void his father left behind, working long hours as a farmhand to keep the family afloat. Still, the burden was immense, resources were few, and the land was growing drier. Survival was becoming harder.
The Anticipatory Action Project
Through the Anticipatory Action Project (AAP) funded by the World Food Programme (WFP), Mumow’s family was identified as vulnerable. They received 630 kilograms of Total Mixed Ration (a balanced animal feed made by mixing cereals, pulses, by-products, and minerals with grasses and plant parts, mainly used during droughts to keep livestock healthy and productive) and 31.5 bales of hay, just as grazing was becoming nearly impossible. They were trained in how to feed their goats effectively, giving each animal just 0.5 kg of Total Mixed Ration per day.
The results were swift: goats that had grown weak regained their strength, their coats began to shine and the milk production from five lactating goats doubled from 250 ml to 500 ml per day. Today, the goats remain healthy. With more milk, the children are better nourished. With less need to forage, the girls have more time for school. In addition, for the first time in years, Mumow could focus not just on survival, but also on caregiving, on hope, and on the future. Finally, the project served as a reminder to a family that had suffered quietly for so long and remained invisible in the shadows of hardship: they were not forgotten.
“When we move before the crisis, we do not just respond, we rewrite the ending”
The committed VSF-Suisse Field Coordination Teams in Jigjiga and Dolo Ado, supported by the Country Office in Addis Ababa, brought the Anticipatory Action Project to life. Coming from different technical backgrounds, the members of the team complemented one another and worked with a shared purpose and a unified vision. From engineering water systems to advancing the science of fodder production, from managing natural resources to strengthening pastoral livelihoods, creating space for all voices, they addressed the full spectrum of needs.
The scale of what the Ethiopian team achieved is not just measured in infrastructure, but in impact; clean water flowing where there was once thirst, rangelands revitalized where the earth had cracked, livestock nurtured where hope had thinned. The authorities in Aware Woreda awarded our team formal recognition, not merely for completing the work, but for completing it ahead of schedule and beyond expectations.
Now that the project is over, we reflected on the experience and called for future projects to include essential resources for sustainability—the pumps, the fuel, the tools that would extend the impact far beyond the initial phase and ensure long-term results. To conclude, what the VSF-Suisse teams built was not temporary relief. It was resilient systems of water access, sustainable fodder production, and strengthened pastoral livelihoods, all designed to endure long after the project ends.
Wesinew Adugna
Head of Programs
Ethiopia