Unable to wait for help ###### their government or the international ###### as they face the prospect ###### a famine, Somalis are turning ###### one another for support.

The ###### clan network is the basis ###### Somali society as well as ###### safety net. Combining this network ###### modern social media, communities are ###### WhatsApp to help families and ###### funds to buy them life-saving ######. WhatsApp is a worldwide messaging ######, or program, for cell phones.

"###### is the first time this ###### been done, because of the ###### of desperation," says Jamal Abdi ######.]]>
Based on the formula that ###### family needs approximately $60 a ######, members of the group decide ###### many families they can help. ###### they deposit the money into ###### bank account set up by ######, the international funds transfer company ###### in 1970 by a Somali ######.

A committee of five people ###### the money to buy basics ###### the families – usually rice, ###### milk and water.

They Can't Rely On Themselves Any Longer

People started ###### using their own ways to ###### the drought, says Sarman. He ###### for an international aid agency.]]>
"The WhatsApp groups were ###### by one person, and it ###### took off, snowballing. Someone added ###### and then I added another. ###### we were hundreds and came ###### with this formula. Everybody is ###### concerned about their own clan ###### sub-clan.]]>
Prominent ###### the growing network are those ###### roots in Somalia, who are ###### all over the world. The ###### is sizable in Canada, where ###### under 45,000 people give their ###### origin as Somali. The U.S. ###### of Minnesota also has a ###### Somali community in the tens ###### thousands.

However, smaller groups have ###### extensive networks and fewer connections ###### the country.]]>
Millions Need Food And Water

###### organizations have been warning that @.@ million Somalis are on the ###### of famine. They are desperate ###### an international relief operation that ###### proving slow in its response.

###### foreign minster of Somaliland, Saad ###### Shire, says that food, water ###### medication are needed quickly. "Otherwise ###### will be looking at a ###### dire situation." Somaliland is next ###### Somalia.

Aside from actions such ###### the WhatsApp groups, Somalis have ###### been helping each other in ###### traditional ways.]]>
An hour's drive through ###### land outside the city of ######, Barre Mohamed shows off the ###### green oasis of crops he ###### grown. He used a homemade ###### system on farmland he manages ###### a local landowner.

Just A Basic Existence

Mohamed, 35, ###### from the Bantu community in ###### south of Somalia, and, with ###### agricultural knowledge, he is helping ###### of pastoral families who have ###### nearby in a camp for ###### people. The farm shares water ###### them from a tank, and ######.]]>
"We can only spare ###### much, and the pipes have ###### and need to be replaced ###### they are leaking. The tank ###### dying," he says. He gestures ###### the rusting structure, which stores ###### drawn from 500 meters (1,640 ######) below.

The desperate lack of ###### creates tensions between new arrivals ###### those already there. "It's causing ######.]]>
Mohamed is proud ###### the crops he has cultivated ###### the odds, including orange trees ###### tomato plants.

"We've been able ###### survive and help some people (######) this small scale, but time ###### running out."

To Somaliland's west, ###### numbers of people with their ###### animals have arrived in villages ###### as Carro Malko. There was ###### rainfall here than in other ###### last year, so farmers have ###### small amount of grass.

Preparing For More Arrivals

A ###### committee has been organizing the ###### of the new arrivals, explains ###### Ennals.]]>
"Each family ###### for five to 10 people. ###### there is a whole family ###### comes, they are given the ######, its traditional name, and food ###### they will then cook for ######. If there are individual herders, ###### will sleep under the trees ###### their animals but eat with ###### family," she says.

The people ###### help, knowing they might need ###### sometimes, she says.]]>