Aid work in Sudan
Posted Wednesday, November 22, 2006, 4:43 PM by Lonely Planet
It's a long way from Geelong to Kabul, but not far enough for international aid worker Ben Fraser who recently left the wilds of Afghanistan for the deserts of Darfur, Sudan. He reports from his new home in El Fasher.
"I think I'm getting by at 1.5 star living; we have a warm fridge, a rickety ceiling fan, occasional power and water delivered by donkey. The market down the road has the essentials, Benson and Hedges and chocolate, as well as some fine tinned goods including halal chicken sausages from Denmark and tinned fruit from Shepparton.
El Fasher city itself is rather small; a couple of government ministries, a football ground, a mandatory smattering of mosques, however there are a large number of internally displaced persons living in camps at the edge of town. We're providing health facilities (vaccinations, clinical care, and reproductive health) at the larger camp (approx. 70,000 people) and are getting a new camp ready. These people have been through the worst just getting here, surviving a government sponsored 'genocide', lack of water, income and security, but at least now some of their most basic needs are being met.
My role in all this is far less extraordinary. I'm looking after human resources, a little logistics, guesthouse and office maintenance and general gap-filler duties around the office. A regular day will involve calculating fraudulent overtime payments from guards, informing a lead-foot driver on the merits of safe motoring, meeting the representative from the Ministry of Labour (who bears a striking resemblance to Snoop Dog), asking the electrician to hotwire the generator and wiping two inches of accumulated dust from my laptop. With my limited grasp of Arabic and difficulty finding a good translator, even the simplest task becomes a drawn out process.
Socially, it's BYO entertainment apart from regular Thursday night parties among the expat community. With a curfew of 10:00pm and a reliance on limited stocks of locally brewed alcohol, these events are generally tame, but sure beats counting the bull ants in the sugar bowl."
CARE International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, International Rescue Committee, Islamic Relief, Oxfam International and Tearfund are some of the aid agencies operating in Sudan in terribly trying conditions. As citizens of the world, reading and understanding their efforts and the cause for their necessity is vital.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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4 Comments:
As soon I read this post I fell something familiar. I have been 8 months in Southern West Darfur as Humanitarian worker. Amazing place, hard, dusty or too much rainy, but beatiful people! Just to let you know even INTERSOS,an Italian Humanitarian Aid Organization is working in Darfur...
Peace in Darfur
I've been trying to find a volunteer organization that would allow me to work in Darfur (by physically being there). I have checked every Volunteer list that my internet search brought back. I did not find any that currently have programs to allow me to volunteer there. Do you know of any? If so, please let me know.
Thank you for all your work!
Thank you,
Shahana
Good morning!
I am having very similar problems to the message from Shahana. I have been trying to find an organization to work for in the Sudan region and was wondering if you had any recommendations or leads. My email address is: lheavener@gmail.com
It would be much appreciated.
~Elizabeth
Yea who has people in Darfur currently?
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