The Beya tribe

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In the Red Sea Hills the rain falls or fails, according to the whims of the gods. In 1984, after facing a long period of drought, the nomadic Beja tribe finally broke up and moved to the highlands, following a prediction from a wise man… But the rains failed and the Beja’s lost most of their livestock and where forced to abandon their land. In November that year I went to Sudan with a task force from the International Red Cross and came to face the worst of famines. The day after I returned to Geneva, Mohamed Amin and Michael Buerk’s story from Korem in Ethiopia where shown on the BBC…and the full tragedy was unfold to the world. Our reports were watched in horror, not at least by Bob Geldof, who formed Live Aid and persuaded millions of people to part with their money to help Africa.