Abdikadar (28) raises an oversized machete and smashes it into a block of ice. Freshly made ice cubes are quickly packed into plastic bags, as Kenya’s sweltering midday sun fights to melt them. It’s a battle that Abdikadar has learnt to win. Losing it means losing money and business.
Providing jobs
Abdikadar has been a manager at this small ice-making plant in Dadaab refugee camp for two years. The camp is home to over 280,000 refugees who have fled war and conflict. Most of them come from Somalia, including Abdikadar and his family.
In a place like Dadaab job opportunities are limited. The Hormud Ice Plant has been providing employment for young Somali refugees for nearly a decade. NRC has just delivered a new machine to assist the plant. It was set up 2007 as part of NRC’s youth education programme. It is a one-year informal education plan designed to support young people affected by conflict, who have a lack of opportunities or missed out on school. Through the programme, youths acquire skills like ice-making to increase their chances for finding jobs.
Distributing ice
Abdikadar supervises a team of 12 youths employed at the plant. Each morning they work in the back of the factory freezing water into ice. The ice is sliced onto large blocks that are carried to the shopfront where they are sold with soft drinks. Other ice blocks are distributed to venders who sell it across Dadaab’s five camps.
Noor is the chairman of the ice plant and oversees its operations. A Somali too, he has been overseeing operations at the plant for 9 years. "We give jobs and hope to many young people here," he says. "Some are dropouts from school. Some have little opportunity to find work."
Fled 25 years ago
Noor fled Somalia in 1991 when he was 7 years old. He fears he may become a target for Al Shabaab if he returns.
It’s nearly lunchtime at the ice shop. Children scurry up to the counter to buy Abdikadar’s ice. Not one cloud covers the sun today. It’s certain to be a busy day at the shop.
