They are very busy right now, says the District Commissioner. Concerning relief aid, each person receives the recommended 12,5 kg of grains per month, says the Commissioner. Two hours further along the main road, on the way to areas where the rain came far too late, we talk to villagers whose children are dying. They are still waiting for relief aid in adequate proportions to their need. On the road back to town we stop at a relief distribution.
People explain that they receive less per family than the recommended ration per person.
Others explain that a few months ago people came in from the Somali Region because they heard that they could be helped in Bale. Closer to town, the trucks with relief grain drive towards us. The war against Eritrea seems to be extremely popular - even here in the South where people traditionally do not have very warm feelings for the ruling group, the Tigrineans from northern Ethiopia. Now we re all equally poor. We have lost all our cattle and we can no longer feed ourselves.