Choose one of the following perspectives based on their interest:

• The Journalist (George Alagiah): Writes a letter to a friend or another journalist about his moral dilemma.

• The Somali Man Who Smiled: Writes a letter explaining his experiences and why he smiled at the journalist.

• A Newsreader Watching the Report: Writes a letter to a TV station responding to the coverage of Somalia.

• A Humanitarian Worker in Somalia: Writes a letter to a government official requesting aid.

Step 2: Writing the Letter

Write a short letter (8-10 sentences) from your chosen perspective.

You should consider tone, emotions, and purpose (e.g., persuasive, reflective, factual).

I write this for the sake of you. When the journalists came , we felt hope towards progress and wished prosperity for our people. But we were wrong. They poured out onto the streets and took pictures of dying women, man and children and did absolutely nothing to prevent it. They are monstrous and ambitious. They think of nothing but their careers, they observe us like we are animals , like another life form. I only smiled that time because it is our customs, even though i see it is not of theirs. I curse the day they came and embarrassed us towards the face of earth.

Your fellow countryman.

I just got back from Somalia and I'm about to start writing the report but I'm conflicted. As a journalist its my duty to write the fact with no emotion but what I saw there people fighting death to preserve their dignity in such an environment and it affected me deeply. In my report do I state the fact with no emotions what so ever or do I write stating facts and emotions combined to affect the audience in a way that they will go out of their way to help them. I will be awaiting your response.

Love,

George

I have realized something profound. We are simply to do better at our jobs as journalists. My mission in Somalia has shaped me into a new man, and I’m writing to tell you that I feel deep shame for my past ignorance. Surrounded by cries for help and utter helplessness, we have simply displayed that our privileges have blinded us to an extent where we have become heartless men. A certain individual here taught me something I will never forget, with a bright smile on his face, despite all the tragedies that have him and his people on a chokehold. All I know is that we have to do better, we need to. I’ll tell you everything in bits once I’m back.

Your dear friend,

George

I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. I am writing to you on behalf of the Humanitarian Forces to urgently request your support for the humanitarian crisis that continues to devastate many communities within our country. As you may be aware, Somalia is currently facing a complex and escalating humanitarian emergency, compounded by protracted conflict, recurrent drought, and the displacement of thousands of people.

The need for immediate intervention has reached critical levels, and we are deeply concerned about the well-being of vulnerable communities. We need urgent help and aid, including medical sources, clean water and food. It is a matter of not just number of deaths but fading souls.

Sincerely,

H.D.G

The situation in Somalia is worsening day by day. If the problems continue to grow the same rate the citizens will perish in near time. We request immediate aid or soon the increasing infection will destroy not just the citizens but us, the humanitarians as well. We request not just medicine and food but military aid as well. The deposed dictator still has an ongoing army of mercenaries that terrorize small town and camps. They steal our food and burn our tents. They kill our people and dump dead bodies to spread sickness. Shall the aid not come in time, the future of not just us but the country is hopeless.

A self aware humanitarian worker

I hope you are doing well,i wanted to share what i saw and the feelings it took me through the time i spent in Somalia.

As a journalist,my job is to report the things i saw.But sometimes they are not enough to explain my feelings.In somalia i saw terrible suffering,people starving,and close to death.But there was a face i couldnt forget,the way he looked at me was impossible to forget.His eyes seemed to ask me “What will you do ? “

That moment made me feel very guilty.That moment took me through a moment of thinking.Should i do more than my job?

I am still thinking.

Want to hear your opinions.

-George

It’s been a while since we’ve written to each other. I recently came back from Somalia and all I can say is it has been nothing short of an epiphanic milestone in my life. From the minute I stepped foot in the village dyed in oranges and greens, I could see that not all the colors were as lively as the Somalian nature I was surrounded by. It was like digging into soil, as I unraveled what was the suffering people turned pale and grey, waiting for their last minutes as if a clock was ticking in the back of their minds. What brought a tear down my face, though, was the shame and embarrassment I could see on their innocent faces, feeling at fault in a capitalist system. I have strong regrets, I really do. For I didn’t even bother to inquire the name that showed me the path to discovery. Journalists have a lot to learn; it’s visible in a place like this that we’re not even close to reaching the world’s truths.

Sincerely,

George Alagiah

I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to share something that has been troubling me. While reporting in Somalia, I saw so much suffering people starving, close to death, with no hope in their eyes. But there was one man who stayed in my mind. He was dying, yet when he looked at me, there was no anger, no desperation just a quiet understanding. That look made me question everything. As journalists, we are supposed to observe and report, but is that really enough? I felt ashamed, holding my notebook while he lay there with nothing. Should I have done more? Or is our job simply to tell the world what we see? I can’t stop thinking about it. What would you have done?

Take care,
George

I am Deniz Erkılıç from Turkey and I have been working for UN Humanitarian Aid Program for 2 years. I am writing this letter with the intention of reporting our struggle in this isolated village of Gufgaduud.

There is no humanitarian aid coming to the village for 4 months. The people are constantly dying because of hunger and the lack of medical supply. Last saturday a kid died as he cut his arm with a sickle while cutting corns in the field, and we had nothing to do to stop the blooding.

In conclusion we demand urgent aid and supply to protect these people from dying.

Sincerely

Deniz Erkılıç

To My fellow journalist,

My journey in Gufgaduud had been hard

and i am in a constant pain that i can’t help these suffering people because of the job etiquette.This people are rotting,the images i see disturbes me i could stop these suffering but no the job restrains me.

In this moral dilmma i am in the middle i want to quit from the job to help them but the carrer i worked on for twenty years will go to trash if i do that.Myconstant dilmmma that nobody can’t help me…

Your, Dear work associate George Alagiah

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing this letter to inform you about a recent moral dilemma I have been through and have your opinion on the matter.

I have recently visited a remote hamlet in Somalia, near the village Gufgaduud. The scene I saw there was as expected from Somalia. The situation they are in came shocking at first but it became more normal after some amount of time since everyone is going through the same problems.

I decided to approach from a passive, observant perspective since I had seen this as a professional report and conveying what you see without interfering seemed the correct way to do so.

But seeing a man smiling to me and avoiding eye contact changed the way I thought about their situation. I have seen with that smile of embarrasment that these people are not just a subject for a report, they are all individuals who have stories. This epiphany changed my goal from creating a professional report to looking more symphatetically and writing about the story of these people, the story of Somalia.

I would appreciate your thoughts and criticisms about my approach and dilemma.

Sincerely yours,

George Alagiah

I hope this letter finds you well. My time in Somalia has ended, but I feel the need to share my thoughts with someone who understands.

We arrived expecting to uncover untold stories, yet the suffering we saw was painfully familiar ;starving children, displaced families, endless violence. Seeing it my own eyes felt far different from viewing it through a screen. Every photo I took felt like an knife, a question of whether I was raising awareness or capturing their pain for a distant audience.

I wonder does our work truly make a difference, or do these stories fdie as quickly as the headlines? How do you balance truth-telling with the guilt of witnessing suffering without being able to change it?

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Sincerely,

George Alagiah

𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊. 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙰𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊. 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚜.

We are dreary to inform that our mission on Poverty Eradication has not yet met the quota. Our aid for the halting of hunger & malnutrition has not made any progress in the last 4 years of work.

We are in a constant state of awe for the helpless citizens that can not even be categorized into the category of people with needs in terms of hunger according to UN.

We, as humanitarian workers from The French Republic demand urgent measures for the addressing of these human rights violations

A Humanitarian Worker

I really hope you receive my letter. You may not recognize me first, but I am the man who smiled at you due to his embarassement, I saw your translator told that to you.

I saw your writing which included me, the writing from “A Passage to Africa”. Towards the last part, I saw the sentence: “So, my nameless friend, if you are still alive, I owe you one.” It may be surprising to you, because it is to me, I am still alive.

I would’ve never thought that you will feel ashamed because of your privileges. You said that my smile emphasized the lines between the poor and the rich. I thought this highlight would add even pride to your white,rich personality. However’ I am glad that for once in this lifetime, an outsider is able to understand the shame I felt. Your shame is due to the fact that you are in a better condition, but I’ll take it.

I felt shame because I didn’t want to be seen like that: desparate, poor and in need of anything and everything. I am deeply sorry if I break the journalist-subject relationship I saw in your letter. You said that you should be active and I, the subject should be passive. I think that is some kind of rule. But I still wonder, am I your nameless friend or some subject that chabged your perspective?

Looking forward to hear from you.

Sincerely, your nameless friend.

I am contacting you as a person taking part the humanitarian service going on in Somalia where war, disease and famine ravage the people. We are in need of imminent aid to continue trying to help better the lives of the people struggling. Our resources aren't sufficient to aid people anymore. We struggle to transport food to people in disadvantaged regions and the food we have in stock will not be enough to feed people close future. We are understaffed and therefore cannot even come close to reaching the majority of people in need. I hope that you respond to our needs soon.

Humanitarian worker

I hope you are doing well. I wanted to share an experience while I was in Africa the thing i witnessed left me with a lot of moral issues. While reporting on the famine in Somalia I found myself in Gufgaduud, a place filled with people who were on the brink of death. As a journalist it was my duty to record their agony and report their stories to the world but I felt like I was a witness to their suffering. There was one instance that still makes me fell like im in Gufgaduud again seeing a starving child collapse while people waited patiently nearby. I took photos knowing it would raise awareness about the problem but still I couldn't help feeling guilty for not doing more. Should I have intervened or reported the horror, I still don't know if I did the right thing. I kept reminding myself that maybe my reporting would bring action to solve the problem, but the feeling of being powerless was overwhelming.

Best Regards, Batu

Your friend, George.

Sincererly