A Message to the outside world

As thoughts in the northern hemisphere turn to summer holidays, many people's main concern is, 'Will it rain?' In Darfur it's certainly going to rain heavily for the next few months. For many people, who have fled the conflict in Darfur, they've now been living in the camps for over three years. It's not difficult to know where they long for.

It's very, very hard. Life here in the camp is very hard,' says Hawai, who's sitting with three other women who soon pick up and carry on with what she's just said. 'The life here is very, very difficult. It's very hard in this camp.' says Zainab. 'In terms of shelter.it's difficult to live under plastic sheeting for so long and it's becoming worn. The day-to-day living is hard. There's a lack of food, a lack of water, many other items are missing, and there are no job opportunities.'

All the women are worried about the rains and the state of their shelters, their children's health, the shortage of everyday things, the dangers they face collecting firewood, finding work, and the lack of security. But they're also keen to point out that this isn't the kind of life they're used to.

'Life is difficult in the camp - we miss everything we used to have at home. On the farm we had everything.food, seeds, animals and also we'd plant vegetables - a lot of vegetables, meat.we had sheep.so it was easy to eat meat everyday. We spend a lot of time here without meat, and without vegetables. We miss everything about home.' Namma

'Life was very different in the village - compared to here it was good. In the past, before these problems, my life was very good. We had enough food, we had enough water, and we even had a surplus. We had milk, we had animals and we had farms. In the past we had a good life and now we have nothing.' Zainab

'Life here is very different. It's not like the life we were used to before.' Says Khadeja, 'Here in the camp we are sitting with nothing to do. In the village we were very active all the time.working on the farms, trading in the markets, herding animals. Here there are no job opportunities, no income. So we are suffering.food is not enough. Food was always available in the village. And water.' For a few moments there's silence and then she adds, 'I hope peace will come soon, and I hope we can go back to the villages soon. I hope we can return to our lives soon.'

But with the conflict still devastating Darfur, it is still far too dangerous for women like Khadeja to return home.

The women are not alone. Ahmed has lived in a camp for over three years. 'Life here is horrible. Life is full of difficulties.We don't have any solutions in our hands. It's a dreadful way for anyone to be treated, but we have no choice. There are no other choices for the people living here in the camp. The problems we have here are becoming more elaborate every day.'

And, like the women above, men like Yousif describe how life used to be. 'We had a very good life, with very nice infrastructure. We didn't have to buy meat or food from the market because we could get it from our own farms... Our life was very fulfilled, and we had all the materials we needed. We had seeds to grow beans and from the beans we'd get oil. The water was adequate.' But all this changed when his village was attacked and people had to flee. 'The ones who failed to escape were caught and killed. And all our livestock were captured and everything was looted. If the women were found they'd be raped and beaten. It was so dreadful. They chased us from July 2003 until March 2005 when we arrived here in this camp. We were moving around trying to find a safe place.but they followed us and if they caught anyone they killed them. They continued to kill, rape and loot. So we fled again and again until we'd lost everything we had. We had to put the children on our shoulders whilst we were running, until we got to El Fasher town and thank goodness we arrived here. Thank God that the INGOs advocated on our behalf and we managed to get humanitarian aid and assistance.' But life in the camp is different. 'The time when we were at home and our time here is very different. Because here there is not enough water, there's no safety, security isn't guaranteed. The situation might change and there are clashes between the different groups.groups with guns. There's a lack of facilities, there's no medical services.even if you go to the public health clinic you don't even get what attention you need - you have to go to town and buy it.

Life is not as good as before.when we were relaxed and very happy. Now we have seen a lot of things in the camp we'd never encountered before. There's a lot of conflict in the camp. It is very congested here - at home we had space. Here you don't feel free. You are restricted to a specific area and women are not comfortable. Back home they were safe collecting firewood, and they could go and collect water. Here there isn't adequate firewood, or water and farms. Women used to say that 'in our areas we could go and collect firewood and feel safe.'

And, 'everything here is for sale.you have to buy everything. Back home it cost you nothing. You had it on the farm and if you had a surplus you could take it and exchange it for other things in the market. Women are not happy here because when they go to the markets here they feel like they are exposing themselves.they are asking for work and it's like they are 'prostituting' themselves...'

The same stories can be heard throughout each camp, in each household, with each person. The past is said to be another country but for the millions of people living in Darfur and Chad who have been affected by this conflict that country seems far, far away.

'I wish for that previous life which we had in the village. For the freedom we used to have. Now we have no freedom. Life was easy and everything was ours. I'd like that life back again.I'd like to live life like I did in the past.' Namma

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