REAL NAME: Fadul Omar Ali CASE STUDY NAME: Yassir Oman Musa
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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
“I am from a nomadic tribe, the North Rizejat tribe. My people are camel herders. I’ve always been worried about the survival of pastoralism and our ancient way of life, especially now I have three children. It is so hugely affected by drought. In the last two years there hasn’t been any rain and the pastures have seriously deteriorated. I am always worrying for my children – will they survive another year? The conflict in Darfur has also made things difficult. Much of the land isn’t safe so we can’t take our animals along the migratory routes to find new pasture. Being a pastoralist means you are separate from the rest of society – you live a marginalised way of life and treated as badly as your animals. No other NGOS – only Practical Action – work with us. The Sudan Liberation Army [rebel groups] fought bitterly against many pastoralist tribes as the Janjaweed militia which were responsible for killing so many people in Darfur also came from other pastoralist tribes. Some of my relatives were killed in the conflict – my uncle and aunt and cousin. It’s tragic, but everyone in Darfur has a story of loss to tell. The posts are already helping to bring peace and address the root cause of the problems – access to land and water. The posts make me feel really happy and excited for my future, and that of my family, for the first time in my life. For the first time in nine years we can travel along the route with our animals, thanks to the posts. We’ve moved almost 1000 camels safely across north Darfur. The posts show where we can take the animals, and where we can’t. So the crops grown by the farmers are safe and will be harvested. It was such a wonderful sight to see. There was no fighting – everyone respects what the posts mean. All we want now is for the whole route to have posts, so that there is no conflict between pastoralists and farmers anywhere in Darfur. Practical Action is a problem solver. Practical Action is the only organisation that actually looks at us like people, as part of the community. The posts have not just brought peace, they’ve changed people’s perceptions. We are no longer alone. We have learnt to share the land and live in harmony. And for the first time ever we are hopeful for lasting peace.”
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