Here's What Oxfam is Doing in Darfur and Chad
No one in dry Darfur can survive without water. Oxfam provides it for hundreds of thousands of people.
In a place as dry and remote as Darfur, water is one of the things people need most to survive. And water—along with pit latrines, washing facilities, and public health education—is what Oxfam has been providing to hundreds of thousands of people since the conflict first erupted.
Our goal is to help prevent the spread of waterborne diseases, such as diarrhea, which can easily ripple through the crowded camps. Clean water for drinking, washing, and cooking is essential in making sure that doesn’t happen. We have drilled wells, installed pumps, and laid miles of pipeline across the sandy desert to bring water to people in Darfur and Chad. We have also dug thousands of latrines and spent untold hours sharing information about good hygiene. Something as simple as washing your hands after using a latrine can help everyone stay healthy.
In addition to water and sanitation, we also provide people with some of the basics they need for running their households—soap, buckets, blankets, and material for building shelters. Many people who fled their homes arrive at the camps with nothing except the clothes they are wearing.
Half a million people are now benefiting from our work—400,000 of them are in Darfur and 95,000 of them are in Chad. To run a program of this size requires a large team of engineers, project managers, well drillers, and others. We now have about 250 Sudanese staffers working with us as well as 25 staff members from other parts of the world. And the reach of our work would not be possible without the help of many volunteers who live in the camps.
But keeping people healthy in the vast camps isn’t our only objective. We are also working with people to help them learn new skills so they can have a chance to earn money and become less dependent on aid. The conflict has destroyed their traditional ways of making a living: farming and trade. With Oxfam’s help, some people are now getting training as plumbers, welders, and carpenters.
