The
Sudan/Darfur Crisis
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July 22, 2004
Khardaga Abdullah Ali is a
woman of about 40 (unsure of her exact age). She is currently living in a tent,
which was there when she moved to the camp. It is not waterproof, and with the
rainy season here, she urgently needs some plastic sheeting. She has built a
low brick wall around the outside of the tent to try to stop water seeping in
and inside the tent is building a raised area of earth to form a bed. Outside
her tent is a small grass shelter which acts as a store for the cooking pots
for her small community.
I came here after Ramadan
last year from my village of Kargula, which is about 20 km from here. I came
here because the Janjaweed attacked us and killed some of my village. We
haven't been able to bury our dead because it is not safe to go back. There
were 64 people killed from our village, and we feel very sad because not only
have we lost our friends and neighbours, but we have not been able to bury them.
The Janjaweed are now living in our village, so there is no way that we can
return there. They came to attack us early in the morning when some of us were
still sleeping, so we didn't have any warning that they were coming. The first
warning we had was when we heard the shooting and people being attacked. I was
with my five children and my mother and grandfather. My husband was in Khartoum
working for the family. My eldest child is 15, and my youngest is five
months—he was born in Al Hisahisa camp.
In October, when we first
came here, we lived in a school in Zalingei, and then in January we moved here.
There were about 2,000 people living in the school compound with us, some of us
inside the classrooms and others living in the space outside. The local authorities
asked us to move, and they established this camp for us. Three months ago, the
government gave us some wheat and some oil for four people.
Inside this camp it is safe
to some extent, but when you go outside, you get attacked by Janjaweed. I haven't
been attacked personally, but some of my friends have been attacked, and they
were taken to the hospital. When they went outside to collect grass to build
their shelters or firewood, they were attacked by the Janjaweed who raped them.
They used to have to go out to collect water as well, but three weeks ago a
water supply arrived in the camp. Both men and women are being attacked
continuously. Every time women go out they are being attacked. This woman was
attacked three days ago [indicated a woman of about 60]. The Janjaweed took out
a knife and held it to her throat, and they told her that they were going to
kill her. But fortunately they didn't—she believes that Allah saved her and she
has more and more faith in Him now.
I haven't received any
help—there are many people who have not received anything here. I brought
nothing apart from my children with me. Even this top I am wearing was given to
me by my daughter to share with her. I left all my things in the village, and
they were looted by the Janjaweed. I have been given some things, mostly food
and a mat, by my relatives in the town.
I know about 30 women who
have been raped by the Janjaweed—one of them is over there [indicated a girl of
14-16]. She has been attacked a few times and raped.
Some of my children have
fever at the moment, and the child that I gave birth to here is being treated
for anaemia. She is being looked after by the clinic here.
We go to the town and find
work to get food. Sometimes we have work and sometimes we don't. We clean
peoples houses or clean clothes, and by doing that, we earn about 50 Sudanese
dinars (about 20 US cents) a day. That is enough to buy two pieces of bread and
sometimes some groundnuts. So I share that with my children.
How you can help
1. Pray for peace for the
people of Sudan
2. To assist those
affected, make gifts payable to Payson Park Church - UCC, marked in the memo
portion "Sudan/Darfur Crisis"