InterAction President & CEO Sam Worthington in visiting humanitarian workers in Sudan. Follow along as he posts diary entries and shares photos from along his trip.
February 27, 2008 - El Fasher, Darfur; Nyala, Darfur; and back to Khartoum
The last item requested by the sheiks during our meeting yesterday was simple, “Can you provide us with the basic essentials that we need to be humans?” Their dignity, their concern for the weakest in the camp, their desire to shape their own future, spoke more loudly than the words. They are all the hallmarks of a good community partnership. And yet there is so far to go. Two women still bleeding under emergency care, one may not make it, and sadly violence may once again claim one more life. It was easier to focus on those receiving treatment, on the children playing and marvel at the attempts to turn Zam Zam camp into a massive Darfur village. Sadly, it is one that will never be sustainable.
Every international NGO in El Fasher I talked to had been attacked in some way or other. Stories of mock executions or even a real execution at the hand of rebels, evacuations, beatings, and death threats now form very poignant memories among the humanitarian community. The fear of yet another carjacking at gunpoint is a real concern. Every agency has lost a vehicle, with drivers either hurt or left to walk back into town. You can see what happens to the cars. Simply cut off the roof and windows, to allow full 360-degree access for the armed men and you have created a mobile weapon.
Walking through town, I see him staring at me and look away. The turban covers almost all his face and an assault rifle sits in his lap. My colleague sees him too and also looks away. The stare is hostile and follows us. Janjaweed. We move on. Later in the day we joke about the incident and my being singled out in contrast to my “blessing” in Khartoum. Different factions continue to rub shoulder with each other.
I am here to get a better understanding of the well being of our community. The expatriate humanitarian community is an varied mix of nationalities, many African professionals, Ugandans, Kenyans, etc., brought in from other experiences on the continent, groups of westerners, French, Irish, American, Spanish, German, Canadians, and other professionals from around the world, whether from Central Asia or India. They all work closely with their Sudanese counterparts, some from far away Khartoum, others who call Darfur home. Most NGO humanitarian foot soldiers who keep the Darfur relief effort going are from Darfur itself.
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I wonder how our community will sustain this four-year effort over additional years, and what can be done to help. Many expatriates are very young. Thankfully, there are thoroughly seasoned professionals in the mix, with tours in Somalia, Chechnya, the DRC, Uganda, Indonesia, Afghanistan or Pakistan. I found it interesting that for a colleague in the UN system this is seen as a good place for a humanitarian to be posted. The difference in perspective was quite stark. The NGO community needs the services of trained counselors and places in-town for R&R.
What brings NGO aid workers down is not the hardship (there are harsher places to work) but the endless obstacles for them to do their work. Unlike the UN or foreign governments, for NGOs every move requires HAC permission. Access to camps is cut off for weeks. Evacuations limit all contact through UN helicopters. Vacancies are not filled for months as work permits are delayed. Every possible bureaucratic impediment has been thrown their way. I learned in Khartoum that this is getting better, and may continue to get better, and thank the government of Sudan for their willingness to work with our community.
 Hopefully, more stability will come as UNMIS deploys its forces. It is the great hope for the coming year. But how the UN deploys its forces and under what mandate will have a great impact on the NGOs humanitarian operation. One agency had already lost qualified outreach staff to UN operational positions at 3 times the salary. There is a real risk that UNMIS massive need for personnel will have well trained clinic workers taking jobs as drivers for much higher pay. Thankfully, a conversation is underway. NGOs want UNMIS protection. They do not want it to take over their work and impose at heavy-handed approach. As we drove up to a clinic my colleagues were shocked to see 15 military vehicles. In the NGO clinic a group of about 15 police, with nice blue UN logos on their uniforms from across the world, came up to us. They were very friendly.
The reality was unfortunately not ideal. IDPs know what uniforms can bring. Too much military or police contact with a clinic and people will stop coming. The unit had brought one child and one officer ordered the local doctor to treat her and asked why we weren’t out helping the newcomers. The aid workers explained that they had a remote clinic that was open every other day for the newcomers. Her comments fell on deaf ears. It is important that UNMIS learn from NGOs who have years of work in Darfur. Like every day some hundred children waited patiently with their mothers in the open tent for their turn. The clinic continued its work as the convoy departed.
Flying south to Nyala I could see the burnt out villages. One village is perhaps where the woman who came to Zam Zam walked from two days ago. Landing in Nyala, the scale of this operation overwhelms the visitor. An IDP camp with 200,000 people lies just outside town. Large transport planes and helicopters fill the airport, and another 30 NGOs keep their operations going.
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