A story from Medair Project Manager in Chad

Khadija and her husband were farmers in Sudan, they had fields that yielded enough to provide well for their family of 10. She lived only a few hours from the border with Chad. Then the war came and everything changed. Her husband was attacked and mistreated so badly that he almost died. She heard the attackers discussing if they should kill him, but in the end they let him live because he is old and they thought he wouldn’t survive anyways. He was bleeding heavily so Khadija put him on a donkey, took her children and fled to the border. There was no time to take any of her belongings.

She arrived in Chad in a very crowded transit camp with nothing but her 8 children. Her husband was transported to the hospital. She built a grass hut of about 2x3m. One neighbour in the camp had compassion on the new family and gave them a sitting mat. This happened more than a half year ago but she had tears in her eyes when she remembered that small but kind gesture. The food ration she received was too small for her 8 children, so her 2 oldest, 2 girls, had to look for work. In nearby Adre they found a job baking bricks, and with this income Khadija can buy some additional food for her family. There was only very little water in the camp and many fights at the distribution points. Now 7 months later things are still very difficult. She only received a few household items from a distribution. Her husband is in and out of the hospital and unable to work, the attack left him disabled. The rations from the food distributions are getting smaller and smaller. The last ration she got was only 1.5kg of millet per person and this had to last her 1 month and 20 days.

She would like to move to a more permanent camp. Her hope is that in those camps the conditions are better. But she has not yet been informed of a transfer and continues to wait. Her biggest desire though is to return home to a peaceful Sudan. There she would have enough food for her children. But every day the situation in Sudan is getting worse. She knows of men that have tried to return out of desperation to recover some of their belongings, but most of them have not returned. Witnesses say they have either been killed in horrible ways or sent to the front to fight. So she will stay here with her family. She has no choice, this is her life now. 

This is just from one of many refugee women that want to have their stories told. It seems that every person here has one just like that or worse. Some things they were telling me about what happened in Darfur are so gruesome that I cannot even write them down. It is hell on earth and the world is looking away.

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