Without enough food for sundown feasts, many Somali famine refugees skip Ramadan fast

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Muslims around the world mark sundown during the holy month of Ramadan with extravagant dinners to break their daily fasts. That kind of nighttime celebration is unthinkable this year for most Somalis, who already are suffering empty stomachs during the worst famine in a generation.

Tens of thousands of Somalis already have fled starvation to the world's largest refugee camp in neighbouring Kenya, where Mohamed Mohamud Abdulle said people can't fast without food "to console the soul" at sundown.

"Today is the worst day I ever faced. All my family are hungry and I have nothing to feed them," Abdulle said on Monday, the first day of the Muslim holy month. "I feel the hunger that forced me from my home has doubled here."

Somalis fleeing famine say they simply don't have enough food to prepare a traditional feast to end a day of fasting. Refugees say they have been unintentionally fasting for weeks or months, but without the end-of-day meal to regain their strength.

http://www.weyburnreview.com/article/GB/20110801/CP01/308019955/-1/weyburn0102/with-no-food-to-break-ramadan-fast-somalia-famine-refugees-cant&template=cpArt

Those in Washington probably views that plan as completely absurd.