Somali Olympians Get Minnesota Support

With the Olympics underway in London we’re hearing a lot about the very strong Team USA and the other major nations counting up their gold medals. 

But the Olympic movement is also about the small nations, the ones that can send only a few athletes from places in the world where the fun of sports comes in a distant second to the bleak day-to-day reality of just trying to stay alive.

Somalia is one of those places.  The country has been at war for two decades.  The basic infrastructure is gone or unreliable.  More than 2 and a half million people in the country need help.  Families don’t have enough food to feed their children, or have been forced into refugee camps, unable to return home. 

Out of this chaotic environment, Somalia has managed to send two runners to London to participate in the Olympics – one of those small things that speaks of normalcy and hope for the future. 

Brent Hines of the Minneapolis based American Refugee Committee talked with KFAI’s Terry Carter about an effort to raise some money to help Somalia using Facebook and building on support for Somalia’s small Olympic team.  The idea is to create a very long paper chain and earn 50 thousand dollars in humanitarian aid.   Terry asked Brent to talk about Somalia’s Olympians.