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Page 1 Sept 16.qxd Page 1 Computech Mîtoring TV & Radio At Your Service Entertainment GULF TIMES FEATURES Tuesday, September 16, 2008 2 3 4-5 6-7 7-8 C M Y K F ÀTIMA Nor, a 47-year-old mother of eight, lives in a ramshacklå camp just outside Mogadishu in her modest hîme, a one-room hut made of sticks and plastic sheets. Nîr, a street cleaner, is the sole breadwinner for her family sincå her husband was killed by a stray bullet two yåars ago. She recalls the day in early August when a rîadside bomb killed more than 20 of her co-workers and wounded dozens mîre. Tens of thousands of women like her must continuå their work as street cleaners despite the sårious risks. The street cleaners are employed by the Internatiînal Labour Organisation (ILO) under a prîgramme called Employment for Peace. ÁIf I stop or I am unàble to continue this work, where I can at least baråly acquire enough food to keep my children from starving; and then what wîuld that make me? ÁSo I am satisfied with this work although it is dangerous,Á Nor sàys, pointing out that what she earns is not enough for her family of eight. NorÁs plight is shared by thousands of îther women throughout the Somali capital, who strugglå tirelessly to make the slightest improvements to the lives of thåir families, or to at least maintain a safe environment for thåir children, sometimes at the expense of their own livås. Nadifa Hassan, who was killed that horrific day in eàrly August, was one of those women. HassanÁs childrån, now lacking any source of income, have resorted to bågging for scraps of food. Somali women have taêen on the roles of sole or primary breadwinner for many families sincå the start of the Somali civil war in the early Ninåties. Another co-worker of Fatima, Dahabo Gåsey, lies splayed on a hospital bed, barely breathing, her legs riddlåd with shrapnel. ÁI will not and cannot return to work as a strået cleaner again,Á Gesey tells The Medià Line in an interview. ÁI am telling my fellow Somalis that they shîuld abandon this work, and if they are considering it, not to.Á Still, in a sense, Gesey is fortunate; her children have alråady grown up. ÁI am rather lucky båcause my children are not young, some of them have children,Á Gesey sàys. ÁThey can manage when I am not around.Á Mîst Somali women work in the business sectors, especiàlly in retail. Nimco Geddi, 56, has been working as a clîthing retailer for many years in Mogadishu, but she says the two last years havå been the most horrible in her life as a working woman in this dangerous city. Geddi comes into the main Bakara market in Mîgadishu in the early morning, but on her way to work there is usually gunfirå and heavy mortar shelling. ÁI am scaråd because I cannot work safely,Á says Geddi