Abdukafi standing tall, with the Eurobodalla’s help. Photo: Supplied.
Facing a life-threatening illness well-known Eurobodalla singer/songwriter Sarah Cowan wants to make a gift of freedom and safety to a Somali family stuck in a Kenyan refugee camp, part of her bucket list and legacy.
The ‘Sarah’s Gift – Music and Mayhem Spectacular’ will be a fantastic night of music, games, a silent auction, raffles and fun at the Moruya RSL Hall this Saturday.
Sarah hopes to raise enough money to resettle the family in a safe country.
This family’s story is full of heartbreaking twists and turns that are far removed from a life on the Far South Coast but its a story that Sarah hopes will connect people as part of one planet.
Aden was six in 1991 when militia invaded the town of Buale in Somalia and murdered his parents in front of him.
With his older sister and their two younger brothers they fled to Kenya, walking for 21 days and helped by other families fleeing the violence.
Aden’s sister worked as a housemaid in Kenya, allowing her younger brothers to go to primary school. She fell ill and Aden became the family breadwinner. Aden’s sister died in 2010 and after a short illness, one of his younger brothers died in 2011.
Aden was working as a social worker for aid agencies when he met Fardowsa.
Fardowsa had lived in the Somali capital Mogadishu until both her parents were killed in the war. Her clan elders forced her into marrying a man against her will. Other women helped her escape and she arrived in the Hagadera Refugee Camp in Kenya in 2011.
After Fardowsa and Aden married, they were tracked down by clan members who have threatened them. The family, now with three children, is not safe in Kenya where the government is threatening to close the camp and deport people back to Somalia.
Sarah met Fardowsa and Aden online and has been helping them apply for resettlement in Canada, Sweden and Britain. Australia is not taking refugees from Somalia.
Sarah and her friends in Refugee Action Collective Eurobodalla helped the family with a walking frame and physiotherapy when their son Abdukafi had walking difficulties caused by rickets.
Sarah has also covered school fees and doctor visits.
“What we really want is to see this family resettled safely,” Sarah says.
Other Eurobodalla musicians are also lending their weight to Sarah’s bucket list mission for this Somali family.
Sam Fletcher, St Peter’s Anglican College Blues Band and Driving Sideways will join Sarah’s own band Sacred Cow for the ‘Sarah’s Gift – Music and Mayhem Spectacular’
The night will be hosted by Vicki Haberley, who spends most of her comedy time as a foxy horn bag channeling Kim from Kath and Kim.
Make your Saturday night count – don’t miss out!
Saturday, September 7 from 6:30 pm at Moruya RSL Hall. Bring a plate to share and BYOG. Tickets – $25 at Moruya Books, Bodalla Dairy Shed and Batemans Bay Asian Supermarket.
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