Zamzam Team: Monthly report for February 2024, from the coordinating counselor (posted February 26, 2024)
[translated by Gaffar Mohammud Saeneen]
As the war enters its tenth month, with no prospects for an end, the entire Sudanese population is living in a state of confusion and psychological stress; and because of this appalling war huge losses continue to define their lives and property. The result of the violence is devastation, homelessness, displacement, and deep physical psychological scars. For the displaced, especially the residents of Zamzam camp, this war sems a deliberate collective punishment, aimed at forcing them to surrender to the Rapid Support Forces and their Janjaweed militia allies. But the people of Zamzam and El Fasher refuse to surrender, no matter how much the Janjaweed barbarians and those who created them attempt to force capitulation.
Psychological pressures have become a daily reality for the people of Zamzam camp, who are used to enduring hardship in difficult times. Today, what makes the Zamzam camp for displaced persons unique, and different from other camps in Darfur, is not only their high spirit and ability to endure difficulties, but also their humanitarian solidarity of spirit. This spirit has become rooted in their collective consciousness. In this regard, we must mention the saying of one of the women here: “In difficult times, we—the people of Zamzam—are accustomed to sharing, even one grain of wheat.”
The continuing psychological assault on the residents of Zamzam camp, especially among young people, is a result of the following:
[1] People are prevented from leaving their homes due to insecurity and are forced to remain in the camp indefinitely.
[2] Once one leaves the camp, he or she will expect either expect death or being robbed of belongings at gunpoint by the Janjaweed militias.
[3] Having to hear horrific and painful news on a regular basis.
[4] The high cost of living, and the lack of sufficient money to buy even the simplest needs for living.
[5] Inability to communicate with others: family members are in different places, and the outside world because of the collapse of most of the communications network.
[6] Seeing painfully sad pictures and clips, showing other tragedies in recent events and the widespread bitterness—all of this seems designed to increase the level of psychological stress among displaced persons.
Although Zamzam camp was already one of the very largest camps in Darfur (in terms of size and population density), the war between the SAF and RSF that began on April 15, 2023 has displaced hundreds of thousands of people from all over Darfur—0and many of them have come Zamzam IDP. This new reality contributes to an already extremely difficult and complicated humanitarian situation. Enormous additional burdens have been placed on all the camps of North Darfur. Around the city El Fasher today, there are more than 900,000, both from within North Darfur State and other areas—from places such as East Darfur, its suburbs, from West Darfur, from East Jebel Marra, Shearia, Labado, Shangil Tobay, Muhajiriya, and all the villages and localities near El Fasher.
The living and humanitarian situation is worsening dramatically, becoming more unbearably difficult every day. At the moment there is almost nothing in the camp but the threat of starvation. There are acute shortages of food, water, and shelter; There is a virtually complete absence of family income because of insecurity everywhere around the camp.
As a consequence, the displaced are in desperate need of all basic necessities to sustain life. Those with limited income cannot afford to buy even simplest things such as flour, medicine, sugar, children’s clothes and blankets. Living conditions for the displaced, especially the economically and socially poor, are made much worse by the high cost of food and chronic shortages of all sorts. This has had a negative effect on social well-being and is destabilizing some camp inhabitants. Malnutrition and poor living conditions profoundly affects individuals psychologically, as well as their ability to adapt socially.
Currently, there are about 98 new shelter centers in Zamzam and its suburbs, all suffering from shortages of food, medicine, clothing, water, an astranomical rise in prices. This lies at the root of many problems.
The prices of basic necessities appear below:
1 lb. of sugar: 1,200 Sudanese pounds
1 kilo of flour: 3,000 Sudanese pounds
1 sachet of tea: 1,100 Sudanese pounds
1 bottle of oil: 2500 Sudanese pound
A small bucket of onions: 15,000 Sudanese pounds
1 kilo of meat: 6,000 Sudanese pounds
1 bag of pasta is 1,000 Sudanese pounds
1 barrel of water is 4,000 Sudanese pounds
A 5-kilo sack of millet: 6,000 Sudanese pounds
5 kilos corn: 5,500 Sudanese pounds s
1 bag of charcoal is 1,000 Sudanese pounds
1 kilo of tomatoes: 2,000 Sudanese pounds
[Sudan’s inflation rate since the 1989 military coup led by Omar al-Bashir has been staggering for a variety of reasons: lack of hard currency; economic collapse of the agricultural sector; absurdly profligate military spending; monumental corruption. (See inflation chart below.)
At present, there are virtually no imports of food and what humanitarian food supplies there are remain bottled up in Port Sudan.
Since very little food is reaching Darfur, it is sheer scarcity that is driving inflation, with no end in sight. As famine levels of malnutrition, this inflation in food prices will only increase.
https://take-profit.org/en/statistics/inflation-rate/sudan/
ll transportation lines within the state capital are 1,000 Sudanese pounds per person, while from Zamzam camp to El Fasher, the cost is 3,000. This crushing rise in prices and the lack of sources of daily income for the individual has greatly exacerbated the suffering and placed additional burden on displaced people—people who already have experienced prolonged difficulties and very harsh living conditions.
The people of Zamzam call on the competent authorities and humanitarian organizations to intervene immediately to rescue the displaced people.
Almost complete paralysis in health facilities and centres
The region’s health centers are in a state of paralysis because of acute shortage of medicines and the absence of professional and specialized medical personnel. This vacuum in a sector as important as health care has created unprecedented challenges for citizens who suffer from the widespread increases in disease and an inability to purchase essential medicines.
The health situation inside the camps has badly deteriorated, and especially given the disappearance of Relief International from the B2 Center with which it was previously affiliated with .Medical and health services have almost completely disappeared [there is an MSF clinic in Zamzam—ER]. Currently, South El Fasher Hospital is the only one working in the health field, although there are also a few private hospitals. Since the beginning of hostilities between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in the capital of North Darfur, El Fasher, the hospital is out of service. This is due to fear and the doctors’ strike in a protest against hard work and failure to pay their salaries. The inability of the state government to provide salaries for health workers has led to great bitterness all around, especially given the increase in deadly infectious diseases. The indiscriminate shelling by the armed parties to the conflict in populated areas has also forced many health professionals to abandon their work and leave. In addition to this, many wounded and injured people have been caught up in the cross-fire and have been left to suffer greatly.
Workers at the Saudi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital in El Fasher have also experienced the trauma of working in a conflict zone (the northeastern neighborhoods were occupied by the Rapid Support Forces for many months and intimidated many workers in the obstetrics and the gynaecology departments, leading many to quit their work. This has created confusion and chaos, leading to an increase in premature births, involuntary births, a high rate of neonatal mortality, and an increase in abortion rates.
All this is in addition to the emergence of undiagnosed diseases , most of which are malaria, eye infections, dengue fever, polio, cholera, watery diarrhea, hepatitis, and joint injuries.
Distribution of basic necessities this month (February)
For this month of February, we have targeted displaced people from three areas:
The first is the displaced people from the village of Zanuba, which is located west of El Fasher and 8 km north of Zamzam camp; it numbers 400 families sheltering inside the two Salaam schools, 47 – 48.
Food supplies were distributed equally to 200 weak and fragile families
8 large bags of sugar containing 50 kg
22 cartons of pasta
One carton of tea containing 24 sachets
4 bags of red lentil containing 50 kg
Number of beneficiaries:
- The number of elderly people is 128
- Children: 117
- Widows: 55
Total: 213 families benefited from this month’s distribution
The second group of displaced people of Al Salam Center 56.
We also have targeted the displaced persons shelter of Al-Salaam School 56, where over 715 families are sheltering. In this distribution, in addition to the food items in the package, milk was also distributed to children suffering from severe malnutrition; and in addition, they were provided a fresh meal. More than 700 children were fed.
- 117 families benefited from this distribution of food packages composed of sugar, flour and lentils.
- Fresh lunch was provided to more than 700 children, most of whom are suffering from severe malnutrition.
- 200 kilos of Nido infant formula have been distributed to mothers with small children.
Testimonies of beneficiaries of the distribution
“On this remarkable day, we are very happy and excited” said Sheikh Adam Mahmoud. He said since their displacement last year, only Team Zamzam has come up with such a beautiful idea to provide people with a quantity of food items through group breakfasts and individual distributions.”
He concluded by saying, “We hope that God will increase your reward and grant you health, wellness and long life.”
At the same time, for her part, Mrs. Awatef Mohamed Sharif said that they are suffering from severe health problems due to the lack of medicine, clean water, shelter and tents in the centres. She also indicated the emergence of many malignant and infectious diseases among the displaced people coming from different regions of Darfur, including shingles, conjunctivitis, diarrhea, malaria, eye infections, dengue fever, polio, and cholera—this is in addition to a food shortage.
One of the Zamzam camp activists also said: “The truth is that we have very big challenges in providing tools and basic services in the temporary centers. This is especially serious in terms of health problems and bathrooms, and sometimes they appear to excrete outside the bathrooms because they lack health education, daily guidance, and awareness of the effects of their actions on the displaced. And there is also a lack of tools.” [Which could be used to build latrines—ER]
For her part, Mrs. Jarra Tikka Salem also said that the displaced people are suffering terribly from hunger, thirst, fear of the attack by heavy weapons, and attacks by the Janjaweed killers who have no mercy. “We need real security and then accountability, because there have been many crimes that have gone unpunished because of lawlessness and the lack of forces to maintain security. Therefore, we call on the United Nations and the Security Council to consider rapid intervention to protect civilians in Darfur. This is urgent, because there are serious indicators of a total collapse of security and the continuation of unrest.
Testimony from victims of sexual violence
Sexual violence and rape at gunpoint are among the worst recurring phenomena that girls have suffered in Darfur for twenty years. After the fall of Omar al-Bashir’s regime, many people, especially the victims, thought that these heinous crimes would stop; but unfortunately, sexual violence is constantly increasing. During the past two years, we have noticed that the number of victims has increased in the area of Zamzam camp, and among these victims, a large number of them are girls, most of whom know nothing about life.
The most recent victim who was subjected to sexual violence was H, A.M., 19 years old. She was subjected to sexual and physical violence in the Wadi Marra reservoir area on Saturday January 11, 2024 while she was on her way to her farm to get some necessary agricultural products. The victim said:
“We were on our way to the farm to bring some supplies for the house; a quarter of an hour after we left the camp, armed men driving a 4×4 military car began to harass us. At first we thought they were joking with us, but after about an hour following us, we realized that they were up to something. After that, we decided to leave our donkeys and run each one of us in a different direction to save herself; but it was too late for two of us.
“They threw me to the ground before they tied my hands and feet. I thought I was going to die but they threw me in their car while I was screaming and hit me in the face and tore my clothes and hit me hard in the head until I lost my consciousness. After that, I don’t know what they did to me but when I woke up, my whole body was in pain, blood was pouring from my nose and a sharp pain in my left arm. I tried to regain my energy to return home to the camp, but dizziness overcame me and I fell down where I was, crying until the morning of the next day when people came to take me back to camp. The pain in body has gone but still I’m suffering from a fracture of my left arm. I thank the Sisters from Team Zamzam for coming to help to overcome my stress.
Although not specified, the diffidence and fear of the young woman identified only as “H.A.M” make clear that not only was she beaten, but raped as well—the primary motive for her abduction by Arab militiamen.
More than 6.7 million women and girls will likely require GBV services in 2024, according to the UN. USG partner the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) reopened a health clinic in West Darfur in December to provide critical medical and protection services to approximately 300,000 women and girls.
Words from a traumatic fistula patient
Aisha Hassan Adobor, from Shangil Tobay, Dar es Salaam locality, aged 22 years:
Aisha said she first felt pain when she was only sixteen but she felt ashamed to tell her mother until she had fallen ill for two years. Aisha said that although she had heard a lot about the efforts that Sisters from the Zamzam team were making to help fistula patients, she was always in doubt about going to see them because she thought she would be exposed by people who might know her. Aisha said, “This negative thinking and doubts had deprived me of early treatment, and as result I suffered a lot in pain and isolation until my cousin saved me.
“Today I thank God for giving me a chance to live, I thank my cousin for convincing me to go see sisters, and my biggest thanks goes to my sisters in Team Zamzam who did everything in their power to bring back my lost happiness. For five years, I was lost in a very strange world in which everything was controlled by emotion and pain; but today I am back to feeling enthusiastic, positive and hopeful for a fine future. For now though, I want to transform this energy to help those who are suffering.”
List of activities that were carried out during the month of February 2024
- 16 inspection visits were undertaken to all shelter centers for newly displaced people, assessing living conditions, taking notes and listening to people’s concerns.
- 4 different meetings were held with the shelter representatives, neighborhood representatives, and women’s groups to share views on the present challenges.
- A total of 42 persons were taken to different hospitals and clinics for treatment and consultation.
- 3 fistula patients have been accompanied to different hospitals and clinics for treatment and post-operative care.
- A water well was completely repaired and now serves many hundreds of people; this was accompanied by a ceremony organised by Team Zamzam.