Darfur - Day 8

Please note that any opinions expressed in this blog are those of Chip Duncan and do not represent any other organizations or individuals. Darfur is a place of constant change and any statistical references are approximate and may change rapidly. If you are reading this after January, 2008, please verify any information with up-to-date and verifiable resources.



Day 8 – January 8th, 2008 – After an 8:00 a.m. breakfast that includes a sweet rice dish with cinnamon, we’re off to the R.I. office, then a final visit to the Zam Zam clinic and camp.

As we pass through the center of El Fasher, the market is just setting up for the day. With smaller crowds of shoppers in the early morning, it’s easier to see the vendors and what they’re selling. There’s a wide assortment of vegetables and fruits – onions, tomatoes, potatoes, apples and oranges as well as spices and wheelbarrows full of long shafts of sugar cane. I’ve read that Sudan has the potential to feed all of Africa given its water and climate. Clearly, however, it’s not likely to happen during a time of crisis as resources are diverted elsewhere.

As we drive through town, we pass a total of seven troop carriers in two different locations. It seems normal here to see them juxtaposed amid the 4x4s of the U.N. and NGO community, the tiny two door taxis that fly around the streets packed full with locals, and the assortment of pedestrians and people on camelback, horseback or pulling a reluctant donkey burdened by more weight than it should carry.

At Zam Zam, we take an hour to do some additional filming of things we missed on our earlier visit – mostly sequences at the small pharmacy and a few extra scenes in the small building that houses maternal care. Though we were expected two days earlier, this is more of a surprise visit. Still, the R.I. staff is organized, cheerful and professional and the facilities are operating much as they had before.

What does sink in by coming back for a second day is that the challenges facing the people of Darfur are not going away. What happens in Zam Zam today happens in Zam Zam every day. Relief International and other NGOs in the area are doing what they can to help – but help is needed well beyond the current resources. Our mission is not to become overwhelmed by the political issues facing Darfur; rather, we’re here to focus on the human, daily needs.

Sadly, our world is faced with scores of man-made and natural disasters that require our resources and our attention. Darfur is just one of many current conflicts and crisis that include the challenges facing Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Congo, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Kenya and others. And the world is still reeling from the ravages of the tsunami, the Pakistan earthquake and Hurricane Katrina. But clearly, regardless of the political issues involved in the Darfur crisis, real people are in need of daily, humanitarian care.

By visiting the camp a second time, it’s easier to grasp that the crisis has created challenges that have now become a way of life for millions of people. There were lines here for help at the clinic two days ago, there are lines here for help today. Though our cameras will be gone, there will be lines here tomorrow.

So yes, while the world continues to work on political, diplomatic and military solutions to what’s happening in Darfur, we all need to do what we can to facilitate meeting what are truly basic needs – food, water, shelter, clothing and basic health care. And that’s just scratching the surface. Most of the displaced people in Darfur are not likely to go anywhere soon, and returning to their homes may never happen. That means children are not being educated and thousands will grow up without the basic resources for managing a quality of life most of the world now enjoys – that is, basic skills in reading, writing, math, science, personal health and hygiene, and basic family planning.

In Somalia there is now a second generation of people living in camps for displaced people. That means an entire generation of people who know nothing but the camp. To avoid that in Darfur will take a significant commitment that I believe begins with support for those organizations that are currently doing what they can to mitigate the challenges these people face every day. We’ve had the privilege of seeing the work being facilitated by Relief International. It’s work that needs to continue and expand.

After an hour in the R.I. clinic, we’re allowed to make a visit to the camp again – but this time it’s a more intimate visit. We don’t just drive through, we’re allowed to spend some time at a few people’s homes and to see exactly how they’re living. Suffice it to say that the only class distinction in Zam Zam is based on the length of time in the camp. Those who have been here longer have simply had more time to create a livable structure. That’s the difference between hand-made mud brick walls vs. thickets, stick poles and grass with a plastic tarp for a roof. That’s the difference between sleeping on a beat up old mattress or a thatched rug on top of dirt.

Population pressure is a common phenomenon around the world, and large cities such as Mumbai, Lima, Addis Ababa or Mexico City have first hand experience with how limited resources can impact people living in poverty. But Zam Zam and similar camps throughout Darfur lack even the most fundamental of resources and infrastructure – electricity, water, sewer, garbage collection. Even while standing in the midst of it, the notion that forty thousand people live here today and 600 more are arriving each week is mind-boggling.

As we drive back to El Fasher for our flight to Khartoum, I can’t say it’s completely hopeless in Darfur. R.I. and other NGOs are here. Sudanese doctors, nurses, midwives and nutritional and agricultural specialists are here. International staffers are here to train and provide assistance wherever possible. And many share similar goals about sustainability and educating women and girls – great notions of course. But of all the places I’ve visited during the past 25 years of working internationally, Darfur presents the greatest challenges. It’s too early for me to have processed the experience and beyond the obvious – that is, contributing financially to R.I. or similar groups that are committed to being here – it will take some time to come up with answers.

Our flight back to Khartoum is, once again, on a U.N. charter that has us back in town by late afternoon. It’s the same Fokker 50 we flew in on and once again, it’s about two thirds full.

After a ten minute drive from the airport, Bob and I are back in the guesthouse where we have beds with mattresses in two separate rooms, a working bathroom with a flushing toilet, air conditioning, a kitchen with a refrigerator and gas stove, satellite television, internet access, and, believe it or not, there’s a pizza delivery place nearby (although it is a rarity here). How quickly life changes for us. It seems so normal to pick up the phone and order a pizza – even in Khartoum. A cold beer would be nice, I think, but I quickly remember that Sudan practices sharia – there will be no beer tonight.


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Thanks for following along on The Road To Darfur. Please visit again tomorrow for Day 9. If you’d like more information on the humanitarian work performed by Relief International throughout Sudan or elsewhere, please visit RI.org. Your help will make a difference to the people of Darfur and elsewhere!