When Stars Are Scattered

Omar begins his first-person account with a brief introduction. He and his little brother Hassan look through a chain link and barbed wire fence toward a crowded group of refugees. They are searching for their mother. Not seeing her, they must get back to their block of Dadaab refugee camp, A2, before dusk to avoid trouble like last week when boys took their pants and shoes. Hassan can only say one word—Hooyo—and make vocalizations, but he greets many on their way back with hugs and handshakes for the people and fruits for donkeys and goats. Hassan and Omar sleep in a small hut near the hut of Fatuma, a woman who is “kind of like [their] foster mom” (9). Fatuma hugs the boys, showing genuine love and concern. Omar and Hassan cannot sleep well because of hunger (there is no food for supper), their bad dreams, and the sounds of other refugees’ nightmares.

Omar reveals the backstory and setting. Dadaab is a large refugee camp in Kenya, a country in Africa. He and Hassan are from Somalia, where civil war drove them away. Omar wants the war to end so they can return and find their mother.