Help for cleft children in Ethopia & Somalia

Exemplary project development

Our cooperation with the aid organization Somalia Medical Care e.V. (Somcare) in 2020 marked the starting point for our support for children with cleft conditions in the Horn of Africa. The collaboration was initiated by Somcare founder Mohamed Ali. Born in Somalia, he left his homeland in 1988 and founded Somcare in Heidelberg in 2013 with the goal of helping the Somali people from Germany. In Somalia, Somalis form the majority of the population; they also live in neighboring areas of Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.

At the outset, our assistance relied on targeted surgical missions in Ethiopia and Somalia with international teams from our partner network. The first mission took place at the Somcare Hospital in Garowe—the capital of Somalia’s Puntland region and Ali’s hometown. The Somcare Hospital was built with financial support from Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe.

By training two young Ethiopian surgeons, we succeeded within two years in establishing another permanent project site in Ethiopia: at Karamara General Hospital in Jijiga, the capital of Ethiopia’s Somali Region. From Jijiga, our Ethiopian team conducts surgical missions in other regions of Ethiopia and in Somalia. Current fixed outreach locations are Dollo Ado (Ethiopia) and Garowe (Somalia).

• March 2022: Opening of Somcare Hospital in Garowe

• 2022/23: The first two aid missions in Jijiga, Ethiopia, led by our teams from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Training begins for Ethiopian surgeons Dr. Samater and Dr. Abdinasir.

• Late 2023: Intensive training for Dr. Samater in Pakistan

• April 2024: Aid mission in Garowe, Somalia, led by our team from Bangladesh

• Summer 2024: Dr. Samater independently operates on children with cleft conditions in his hometown of Jijiga and at Somcare Hospital in Garowe

• Late 2024: Intensive training for Dr. Abdinasir in Pakistan

• Since 2025: Permanent project site in Jijiga, Ethiopia, with regular outreach missions to Dollo Ado and Garowe.

Helping where help is urgently needed

Most of our patients in the Horn of Africa live as nomads. They suffer from ongoing droughts and famines and live in deep poverty. Children are often malnourished or ill. Families frequently lack the money for medical care. There are no cleft surgeons in this region. When we first arrived, we met many older children whose cleft lip and/or palate had not yet been operated on.

With two local surgeons, Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe serves as a reliable point of contact for children with cleft conditions in Ethiopia and Somalia—in regions where help is urgently needed.