[Stoves] Helping in Darfur from Ken Goyer, forwarded by Warren

[Warren Goyer]

Dear Roz, and others,

 

You asked me if there was some way a person could make a donation that would
help the situation in Darfur. I've thought a lot about this question for the
last couple of weeks. The situation here is very grave but not for the lack
of money. It's grave because of the "insecurity". More and more of the
population is cut off from supplies and help. Humanitarian workers have
pulled back from insecure and dangerous places leaving the population in the
lurch. Much of the population (it is said 500,000 people) didn't receive any
assistance in the first place, but now many more are left helpless.

 

As you know from the press, the big issue is who will keep the peace in
Darfur. The African Union peacekeeping mandate has run out and the U.N. is
billed to take it over, but the government is resisting the idea. The
government is actually amassing a large force here.  This instability makes
humanitarian organizations VERY jittery. If they are forced to go or decide
to leave because it is too dangerous then (an even more) massive tragedy
will occur.

 

We have managed to visit only two camps. These are close-in places that have
secure access. The people here look pretty good. They have nice clothes and
shoes. Their teeth, for the most part, are in pretty good condition. They
don't look like they are starving. They have clean water to drink and
medical care and medicine. And the kids go to school. (A far sight better
than what you see in Uganda).

 

The camps that you can't visit are the camps that I fear to see. But since
you can't see them there is nothing you can do. So the answer is that first
there must be "security". It's not for the lack of humanitarian supplies, or
money, or will, at the moment (although we have no electricity, my cell
phone is broken, and the town is out of gasoline).

 

Last night we had the mother of all thunder and lightening storms. It must
have been a bad night for IDP'S. In the morning I found almost three inches
of water in a pot left outside and we are supposed to have our first stove
training today. Twenty five women are expected to come. Yesterday sixty five
men came for the sneak preview. What a surprise for us, no women. The men
approved of our ideas and so today the women will come, but I wonder if we
will have to postpone our training even if this rain does stop.

 

All in all the rain must be good. The ancient economy of this place depends
on herding. I didn't understand why we saw so many hundreds of sheep, goats,
cattle, donkeys, and camels between El Fasher and Zam Zam camp, but they
have been brought here from the hinterlands to the El Fasher livestock
market. This is the lush time of the year when the El Fasher area can
support this surge of livestock. Once sold, they will be herded across the
desert to Lybia or Egypt, a trip taking as much as forty days. El Fasher
sits on a rise in the topography and I wonder if this rise makes it rain
more here or at least makes it more prone to these violent thunderstorms.

 

This rise in topography here in El Fasher is reminiscent of a geosyncline.
Now I don't know anything about the geology of Sudan but I know in our
country a lot of people got rich drilling holes in synclines. I wonder if
the tribes here are playing "King on the syncline" as well as "King on the
mountain". Last year, there were two groups shooting it out. When we arrived
last month there were nine groups shooting it out, and now there are eleven
groups that belong to the National Rifle Association. No one knows what will
happen, or not happen, or when it will happen or not happen, and this
uncertainty adds to the insecurity.

 

I will be leaving here in a few days. My thirty day visa is coming to an
end. If it wasn't ending and if I weren't leaving anyway, I would now be
asked to leave. Each humanitarian organization will only be allowed to have
two foreigners in El Fasher at a time, in case evacuation becomes necessary.
That is the allotted space for foreign workers in the UN contingency
evacuation plans.

 

VJ is now a trained and competent Rocket Stove promoter and he will stay
here in El Fasher. His visa is extended and he will continue the stove
project, starting here in North Darfur. I'm prejudiced but there doesn't
seem to be a greater need in the camps right now than for fuel efficient
stoves. And I am very glad to have been able to contribute to this effort.
Best wishes to VJ and his work,

And best wishes to all of you,  Ken