REAL NAME: Halima Ahmed Mohamed Eltayib CASE STUDY NAME: Amel Mahmoud Osman
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Authors
Ella Jolly
Issue Date
30/01/2015
Type
Language
en
Keywords
Disasters , Agriculture
Alternative Title
Darfur Community Peace and Stability PIN 5000423
Abstract
Practical Action has installed a submersible water pump in the village well about 50km north west of El Fasher. The well at Kobi Algadi is 35 meters deep and women use traditional methods to draw water. These methods are both time consuming and tiring. The pump directly combats both these constraints. The community is situated about 3 km from a migratory route. Although herders do not use the well for their animals as there are water sources nearer the route, pastoralist women are known to travel to the well to collect drinking water. The pump also contributes to environmental stability as we have also worked with 350 women to establish a small community forest and vegetable garden on 4 feddans of land situated close to the well. The community members decided to create their own irrigation system, using the pump to transfer water from the well to flow into channels irrigating the tree seedlings. “I have lived in this village all my life. We have had to survive many hardships here – the fighting, the drought, the famines. My husband left me and so I have three children to bring up on my own. Many people have left our village, hoping they will find a better life somewhere else. But they just become IDPs. I will not do that. I am part of the Women’s Development Association, set up by Practical Action. Together we have planted a community forest, with many different trees – Gum Arabic, neem and cedar. We have learnt about how the trees will protect our futures. We will benefit from them for years to come. And so will the land too. The water pump installed in our village also gives us clean drinking water which no longer makes us ill. We have also set up our own drip irrigation system to deliver a constant supply of water to the tree seedlings. No-one told us how to do this – it was our own idea and we’ve made it happen ourselves. Before Practical Action came here I am sad to admit that people had no motivation. I think people were shell-shocked, traumatised by all that we have seen and survived – especially during the conflict. Doing anything, making anything good happen, seemed impossible. But now people from neighbouring villages come to see what we have done and want to learn from us. When you see a woman from Darfur now, you know she has power the change to her life. The posts that separate our land from the pastoralists’ animal route are a beacon of hope for everyone in Darfur. They stop the animals from trampling our crops because they show where the pastoralists can move their animals. And the farmers like me know where we can’t sow seeds. Food is so precious in Darfur that we must work together in order to survive. We farmers don’t have enough seeds to plant them and then watch them trampled just before harvest time. And the pastoralists must get their animals to pasture and water otherwise they will die. The posts are helping us to understand everyone’s needs for survival, and rights to make a living. ”
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