Mohammed was six years old when his family left their home in Darfur in the far west of Sudan - just a few weeks before one of the world's largest humanitarian crises erupted in the region in 2003. A few weeks later they arrived in Port Sudan, the country's easternmost city, over a thousand kilometres away on the shore of the Red Sea.
Thousands of families like Mohammed's have arrived in Port Sudan over the past two decades, leaving behind war, drought and poverty in search of a better life. But they do not always find it. Good jobs are scarce and competition is high. Some low-paid labouring jobs are available at the large industrial port that dominates the city; but the economic growth and urban development that the port has created has not trickled down to the shanty towns on the city's edge, where many of the migrants and poor communities live.
"We have four main problems here," says Fayza, who runs a women's development association in one poor district of the city. "There is a lack of water. There is only one basic school, which struggles to meet children's needs and many people cannot afford to pay the fees. There are no healthcare facilities. And there is no work or opportunity to earn money."
Oxfam is supporting 12 of these community-based women's associations, in some of the most impoverished and marginalised neighbourhoods of Port Sudan, to help families generate income. The associations provide small but significant help to women in need. They make small loans to help women set up businesses; they provide vocational skills training and advice; and they act as a social support network for families struggling to make a living. In poor communities, where people have no savings and cannot access credit through standard banks, women rarely have the capital to afford the initial expense of setting up a business. A small loan can make a big difference.
Saadia Juma, a mother of three and member of the association, says, "The loans offer us a chance to rapidly improve our lives through short-term profit - but they also have a much longer-term positive impact on our society. At the moment many children do not attend school because their parents can't afford it. But with a loan and a new business, they can pay the school fees and send them to get an education. We hope then our children will grow up with more opportunities than we have had."
When Mohammed's family first arrived from Darfur, his mother, Nada Ali Almaleh, turned to Oxfam and her local association for help:
"In the beginning, life was very difficult and we found it hard to get good jobs. I took a loan of 400 Sudanese pounds ($200) and used it as capital to set up a stall selling clothes and colourful cloth in Souq al Nafrain, a busy local market where many of the traders belong to the association. It was a very small stall to start with, but now it is one of the biggest shops in the market. I quickly repaid the loan, made good profits, and it has been very successful. I think the work of Oxfam and the association is so important in helping women, and I want to help others who are in the same situation as me. So recently I became one of the local association's directors.
"I work here in the shop every day of the week from 5am until 8pm, including public holidays. It's a real family effort. My children help out after school. It has been doing so well that even my husband gave up his job to help in the shop."
As a result of the profits from his mother's business, Mohammed - now aged 11 - and his five brothers and sisters now all attend school regularly.
"I like school very much," he says. "When I finish my education, I would like to be a doctor and help treat sick people. Every day, after class, I come to the market and help my mother on her stall. I know this is how my parents pay for my education, and I want it to continue."
For more information about other projects run by the Oxfam-supported women's associations in Port Sudan, visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfamsudan/sets/72157611367947104/
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Izz el-Deen Aboul Aish, a Palestinian doctor who worked in one of Israel's main hospitals, speaks to the media in Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv January 17, 2009. Israeli television ...
