LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: What's it like for the millions of people around the world living with acute hunger, from Gaza to Haiti to Sudan and Somalia? We're going to focus in on one place, one person, a mother of 11 named Hao Idley (ph). She knows what it is to live without food. She's survived a famine in Somalia, brought on by drought and years of conflict. Today, the threat of starvation in her country is still high. The World Food Programme warns that 3.4 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, and the figure is projected to rise. Hao is one of the lucky ones receiving help from the International Rescue Committee.
HAO IDLEY: (Through interpreter) The biggest issue I faced was a very, very bad headache, like a bad migraine. And that's because I was worried about my children not having anything to eat. That was difficult to bear, so we left.
FADEL: Hao grew up in the southern Somali town of Qoryale (ph). But like many others, she was displaced more than once.
IDLEY: (Through interpreter) We started to go hungry due to droughts and conflict, and the hunger was very hard on us. So my husband left us to find food in another village. Later, we decided to follow him. So I went to my neighbor and borrowed a donkey cart, then traveled about five days to meet him in another town.
FADEL: How long has it been that it's been difficult to get food?
IDLEY: (Through interpreter) Before people connected me with the IRC, it was several months that I faced hunger. It's still difficult to get food sometimes. Sometimes, we don't get it at all.
FADEL: Hao says the hunger didn't end when she moved to Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. It just comes and goes.
IDLEY: (Through interpreter) Sometimes, we'll eat once a day. Sometimes, two times a day, when we can afford it. But not always. If we don't have the resources, we just go without food.
FADEL: Have you ever had to make a difficult choice just to survive to feed your family?
IDLEY: (Through interpreter) The most difficult decision I made was moving my family from our home to Mogadishu. But I did it because I couldn't find anything for my children to eat for 24 hours, and we didn't have clean water. There was a river, but when drought happens, the river dries up. There were also conflicts. Leaving home was the biggest and hardest decision I ever made.
FADEL: Do you still worry about running out of food or not having food for your family?
IDLEY: (Through interpreter) Yes. I'm always afraid that we'll run out of food.
FADEL: And for people who have never experienced being displaced, having to go without food, what do you want them to know about what it feels like and what you need?
IDLEY: (Through interpreter) There's a big difference between me and other people who have never felt hunger. They live a better life. We have a bad life. We are not the same.
FADEL: Her story is one of so many in Somalia and in other parts of the world where food is scarce, whether because of war, drought, poverty or all three. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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