REAL NAME: Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed from Kulkul, Darfur CASE STUDY NAME: Awadalla Ahmed Ibrahim
Loading...
Files
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 was born in Kulkul and have lived in Darfur all my life. Life in Kulkul is really hard. There are no jobs, no sustainable way of making a living. Most families are farming people. If there are no rains we cannot grow enough to eat and to make a living. Last year and the year before, the rains did not come. Many people leave in the hope of making a better life. They go to Libya or other places. They dream of opportunities. There are about 4000 people who live in Kulkul. I?d say, for 75% of them, life is a battle for survival. During 2003 the conflict started. The rebels established a base inside our community. There were beatings and robberies. Over the 8 years they were in Kulkul there were instances of women being raped too. Our community actually felt hatred for the conflict movement. The government came and took control of the area in 2008 and have been there ever since. Now we have a good relationship with the government. We’re living in a time of drought now. People feel really desperate. There are rumours that there is gold in the mountains. Sometimes the most desperate women will walk for three days to the mountains to dig in the ground in the hope they will find some gold to sell. They never do. No-one has any food to eat. People are constantly searching for food. We have to rely on what we find – scraps of wheat, berries from trees, even tree roots. So many people are malnourished – especially the babies. The hospital is very far away though and people have struggled to take their children there in time. They are dying now. We have tried so hard. But we are not hopeful for our future. We are scared. Practical Action is the only NGO working in our region. We are working with Practical Action to build a haffir in our village. The haffir will helps us store water when the rain comes. The posts are helping to create social harmony with the nomadic pastoralist tribes. The migratory route by Kulkul has existed since 1947. There is an ancient bond between our villagers and the pastoralists. It is a deep relationship. In 1986 the chief villager and the chief pastoralist took an oath of peace in 1986. But the relationship changed dramatically during the conflict. The pastoralists couldn?t travel down the migratory routes due to the conflict so farmers planted crops across them. Then when the conflict eased and the pastoralists wanted to move their animals through the migratory routes there was great tension between us. Farmers? crops of millet and watermelon were ruined and there was fighting. When we started planting the posts in the soil people started to cry. They were so emotional because of what the posts mean for our future. The chiefs renewed the oath of peace in a special ceremony. We know that the posts are just the very start of the peace process but we feel they will bring peace and prosperity. Everyone benefits – the pastoralists can herd their animals safely and the farmers can grow crops that will not be destroyed by animals. The posts will bring peace and also help to eradicate poverty. Practical Action is the whole future.”
Description
Citation
Publisher
License
All rights reserved