Winter Should Not Mean Suffering: SMHSO’s Community Outreach in Burao, Somaliland.

The unforgiving cold nights of summer.
As temperatures drop, many families are left choosing between food, warmth, and survival. Lack of adequate shelter offers little protection from the cold nights of Somaliland. Children sleep without blankets. Parents skip meals so their children can eat. For the elderly, the sick, and those already struggling with poverty, displacement, or mental illness, winter becomes a season of quiet suffering.
During this critical period, the Somaliland Mental Health Support Organisation (SMHSO) stepped forward.
Our team of staff and volunteers went door to door across vulnerable communities in Burao, reaching families who are often unseen and unheard. We carried with us not only essential supplies, but a message many families had not felt in a long time: you are not forgotten.
Through this winter outreach, SMHSO supported over 100 families with food parcels, warm blankets, and essential household supplies. For many households, these items were not a comfort — they were a lifeline. A blanket meant warmth through the night. Food meant children could eat without worry. Essentials meant dignity in the face of hardship.
One mother told our team that the blanket her children received was the first warm covering they had slept under all winter. An elderly man shared that the food parcel meant he no longer had to choose between eating and heating. These moments are small on paper, but life-changing in reality.
At SMHSO, we understand that poverty, hunger, and cold are deeply connected to mental distress. When families live in constant uncertainty, anxiety and trauma take root. By meeting basic needs, we are also protecting mental wellbeing — offering stability, hope, and human connection at a time when it is needed most.
Yet, despite this impact, the need far exceeds our current reach.
For every family we supported, many more were left waiting. Mothers asked if we would return. Elders asked if others would be helped too. These are the hardest moments for our team — knowing the need is there, but resources are limited.
This is why we are asking for your support.
With additional funding, SMHSO can expand our winter response, reach more families, and ensure that no one is left to endure the cold without food, warmth, or dignity. Your contribution will go towards providing warm blankets, winter clothing, waterproof shelter sheets, and other essentials that can help keep vulnerable families in Somaliland warm and dry.
Thank you to all those who have supported us with every dollar and pound. Truly, our hearts swell with gratitude.