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FROM THE FIELD
The shadow of a mountain
11 Jan 2007 16:01:55 GMT
Source: Norwegian Church Aid - Norway
As the sun rises from behind the mountain, boys in long, white shirts, known as "jelabia", hurry through the streets of Nertiti, Darfur. They kick up the dust with their feet, eager to
get to school on time.
By Charlotte Brudenell, ACT Communicator, Neriti, Darfur
"I want to learn so that I can help develop my country and help my mother and my community by
getting a job," says 15-year-old Abaker, a student at Northern Camp School in Neriti, Darfur.
Abaker, like all the boys who attend, lives in a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs).
He is one of more than 30,000 people living in two camps in Nertiti.
His school was set up three years ago by ACT-Caritas partner Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO), as existing
government-run schools could not cope with the steep rise in student numbers due to the influx of IDPs. The cost of sending their children to private schools could never be met by the displaced
families who have lost both their homes and livelihoods.
Essential schooling
"Northern camp" school provides education at a third of the cost of government schools and also
provides free materials to the students and teachers.
"If this school wasn't here, and these children could not learn, then they would purely be victims of the conflict," the headmaster
explains.
Nertiti is located in the southwest foothills of Jebel Marra mountain, a stronghold of one of the largest factions of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and perhaps the most
strategic location in the whole of Darfur. Geographically difficult to access, it is also the most fertile area in Darfur.
Looming threat
With rebel groups just 2 to 3
kilometres up the mountainside, there is a large military base below the town, a strong police presence, as well as a base of the African Union (AU). The AU does not patrol the camps, but soldiers
from the government of Sudan army do.
And yet, "at sunset we never feel comfortable," says Hawa, a woman at the community centre that SUDO also runs in Neriti to provide basic skills and
support for the IDP population there. "We don't leave our homes after sunset, not even to visit a neighbour. If we go outside, we can be beaten and robbed. This is normal."
"Only the NGOs
here make us feel safe. We trust the NGOs; they provide all the services, food, water, health care, household items. They have given us everything," says another woman.
However, due to the
presence of armed militias to the east, the United Nations has declared the road from Nertiti to Zalingei a "no-go" route. A military escort is recommended for travel along the road.
With SUDO's
nearest office in Zalingei, the lack of security could reduce the delivery of humanitarian assistance and services at any time.
"Without the NGOs, without SUDO's center here, we would do
nothing. We would just suffer," states Hawa.
Norwegian Church Aid is a leading member of the ACT-Caritas alliance, bringing aid and assistance to thousands of IDPs accross Sudan's Darfur
province.
For more information:
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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Last updated:Thu Jan 11 16:04:02 2007