Space to live in troubled Darfur

Bdria Hamed, 18 and Fatima Yucob, 22 take part in sewing classes in Derieg camp, south Darfur [Laura Storr]

A new community centre in Derieg camp in Darfur is helping people displaced by the conflict to learn new skills and find ways to build peace within their own communities

By Catherine Dennis, ACT/Caritas

Under the shade of a straw roof, the space is alive with chatter. Children play outside while women gather in groups to practice newly learnt skills that include making pasta and traditional mat weaving.

In a place where life is hard, this second community centre has just opened to become a source of strength for the people of Dereig camp, south Darfur, particularly for the women.

Khayida, a member of the community centre who fled her home village and arrived in Dereig camp four and a half years ago, spends her days at the centre.

She says, "I’m learning a lot of things. For example, I make grass mats, table cloths as well as some bed sheets by hand."

The community centres are a place for all generations with children playing together, while their mothers work and chat. "I’m very happy with the opening of the new centre, which has been built for us," says Khayida.

"We, the old women, are like the trunk of a tree, the others are like the branches. Here we as old people are allowed to provide the youngsters with knowledge."

Rushing to enrol

Dereig sits on the outskirts of Nyala along a dusty road to the airport. Over 25,000 people driven from their villages have arrived at the camp, which started with some thirty families seeking refuge from the conflict in 2004.

The popularity of the first community centre, as well as the steady flow of new arrivals, prompted the opening of this second centre last month.

The new facility, just as the first, was built and continues to be supported by CAFOD's partner, Sudanaid.

Sheik Saleh Hussein Ahmed, a local community leader, said at the opening of the new centre, "I am happy, really my feelings are running high. My daughters and sons too will gain from this centre."

Even before the new centre opened, women rushed to enrol, and close to 300 women, young people and children are expected to sign up in the coming months. Gabriel Yai, who works for Sudanaid, says that so far attendance levels have been high.

"These women realise that many people benefited from the old centre, so they want to take this opportunity to gain new skills."

Space to live

Next door to all the chatter, in another hut, the only sound is the hum of sewing machines, where a group of women concentrate intently on learning basic tailoring.

With the addition of the second community centre, more women will be able to benefit from adult literacy classes, group and individual counselling sessions, as well as workshops raising awareness in human rights and peacebuilding.

The centres are also vital meeting places where women have space to meet, to share, talk and laugh.

Men also gather here at certain times as members of peace committees or to take part in building stoves or weaving traditional baskets.

In the camp, opportunities to make a living are scarce, but Khayida and the other women can sell the items they make at the community centre on the thriving local market, which helps them provide food for their families and clothes for their children.

Some women have saved enough to buy their own sewing machines and are now working on their own to make goods to sell at the market.

Meanwhile, women who do not have their own machines can use the equipment at the centre.

Many women think of the skills they have learnt here as a blessing. Khayida says

"I hope that we will practice these same skills when it is time to return to our homes."

Every month a new group of women graduate, receiving certificates in handicrafts such as cutting and design.

Building peace

While Dereig residents may look forward with hope to returning to their villages, for now the growing numbers of families arriving at the camp puts pressure both on the services of the camp and on relationships with permanent residents of the area.

Workshops exploring ways to resolve conflict are helping to bridge the gap between the people living in the camp and those in the town, as are peace groups for women and young people.

Another woman, Amina, who fled with her family from her home village, started attending classes at the centre three years ago.

She is now passing on her own skills to new arrivals at the centre. "I am very happy because I have learned and I should teach the others all these skills."

Looking back over these years, Amina says, "Much has changed and I now thank God that I have learnt all these things."

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