Where we started

Against the backdrop of famine and humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa in 2000, a diverse group of professionals and community leaders from the East African community in Minneapolis/St. Paul came together to discuss how they could leverage their collective assets and energy to improve the situation for families in the Horn. From these conversations, the need for the American Relief Agency for the Horn of Africa (ARAHA) emerged. Since then, ARAHA has achieved an impressive record of success while serving some of the most vulnerable populations in the Horn, including refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and residents of rural areas. In seeking to nurture these communities, the organization has focused on providing both immediate crisis relief in the form of food and medical supplies, as well as long-term development in the form of education, self-sufficiency projects, and access to clean water. To allow ARAHA to better support and understand the communities it serves, the organization opened a network of field offices across the region and has cultivated partnerships with local community organizations, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and governments at all levels.