October 3, 2024
(Eric) You will have received the full and very grim update from the counselor of Team Zamzam (September 26, 2024)—and yet for all the suffering, pain, and loss that residents of the camp continue to experience, there is gratitude as well. For our project is able to feed a significant number of families every month with local food purchases, even as Zamzam and nearby El Fasher remain out of reach for humanitarian workers and convoys. Moreover, beyond the desperately needed food, Team Zamzam provides tangible evidence that the people of the camp have not been forgotten by the world outside Sudan.
Present Context and Summary of Activities
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have laid siege to El Fasher (capital of North Darfur) and show no signs of relenting in their relentless civilian destruction. Should El Fasher fall, Zamzam lies only 15 kilometers to the southwest and would be at immediate risk.
So, while we are encouraged by the continuing—indeed growing level of—support, we hope to do more yet. We provided in the period of late August to late September 3,000 pounds of food (flour, red lentils, sugar), feeding some 3,500 individuals. Camp residents served included those with greatest need: children (especially orphans), pregnant women, the disabled, and the very elderly. For the coming month (October) we hope to increase the amount of food to 4,000 pounds, serving another 1,200 individuals. Much depends on the price of food—inflation caused largely by the ruthless violence of the RSF in the region and the disruption of agricultural production.
[Of note: two rebel groups have concluded an agreement to work for civilian protection in North Darfur and elsewhere in the region. This could provide a significant increase in the prospect for humanitarian deliveries. How the agreement will actually work on the ground is uncertain.]
Team Zamzam continues to provide psychosocial counseling, its original—and continuing—mission to assist girls and women traumatized by the rampant sexual violence in Darfur: 62 individual sessions were conducted in the past period and 39 group counseling sessions.
And we hope to add to the roster of 8 water wells that have been rehabilitated after falling into severe disrepair, providing clean water to hundreds of families.
There can be no life without water
But ultimately, what we will be able to do depends on whether the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues to provide the critical military equipment, logistics, and funding that sustains the Rapid Support Forces. Pressure to halt this genocidal militia is rising—we must hope that the Biden administration heeds the advice of the lead Washington Post editorial on Sunday, September 29 (“Biden needs to pressure the UAE to help end Sudan’s civil war: The U.S. considers the Emirates a ‘major defense partner’ despite its role in fueling conflict in Sudan.”
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But to return to the message from Zamzam: The residents of the beleaguered camp send their deepest thanks—and feel gratified that at least some in the international community are responding to their needs.
We hope that donors understand that all funds received go directly to support on the ground, which as a whole operates with truly extraordinary efficiency, in ways matched by no humanitarian organization operating in Darfur that I am aware of, a region I have been researching for two decades. There is absolutely no overhead expense for this project.
Those wishing to assist in funding the work of Team Zamzam may also send a check directly to Eric (Eric Reeves, 31 Franklin St., Northampton, MA 01060).
OR
Purchase one of his woodturnings: https://www.ericreeves-woodturner.com/collections/all
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