Life Line in Somalia

We take it for granted in much of the world that we can dial 911, 999 or some other two- or three-digit emergency phone number and expect help to arrive within minutes.

That's not the case in Somalia, which has been increasingly destabilized by an on-going civil war since 1991, and which has been without leadership and a basic infrastructure for the most part ever since.

But a volunteer ambulance service is offering hope for the war-torn country, reports CNN.com, bringing some semblance of order to an otherwise chaotic country. What's even better is that the seven ambulances now in operation in Mogadishu are all funded by local and expatriate Somalis themselves. Just like in many cities around the world, a phone call is all it takes to summon the truck.

"It is amazing," Rufai Salad, one of the founders of the ambulance service told CNN. "We have this toll-free number, 777, that you dial. Someone is giving you a free call and then coming and giving you free help. People here find it hard to believe it is real."

The service was started in December of last year by a local charity, Life Line Africa. CNN reports that clan elders and Somali businessmen donated the money for the vehicles and the generous salaries of the ambulance drivers who earn about $200 a month -- a huge sum in a country where most of its people earn less than that in an entire year.

But the job is perilous for the drivers, whose lives are at risk every day. Their job is to transport the wounded, including insurgents, to the hospital, and that means they face the wrath of those on both sides of the conflict for aiding the enemy. At least one driver was killed when his ambulance was peppered with bullets.

Still, the ambulances are a life line for those they serve, regardless of their politics.

Photo courtesy of via Wikimedia.