By
seven o’clock in the morning, the Red Cross camp for Sudanese
refugees in Tréguine, eastern Chad, is already a hive
of activity.
Women balancing jerry cans of water on their heads engage in
lively chatter. Others grind millet on a flat stone to make
the daily meal of boule. Children scrub the family’s clothes
in front of their tent, pausing only to throw soapy water at
each other in an explosion of laughter.
The men build cooking areas and shelters out of wood to make
their family’s living conditions a little more comfortable.
All around the camp, resonate the sounds of people getting on
with their lives as best they can.
Although the refugees receive food and non-food aid from the
international community, they are by no means inactive. On the
contrary, being victims of violence and exile, while a destabilising
experience, does not necessarily mean a loss of control over
one’s life, and that is the first aspect of their existence
which they are entitled to have back.
“We are not children,” says one of the 11 leaders
of the refugee community in Tréguine. “We have
been chased from our homes and lost all we had, but we can still
organise our lives.”
Many aspects of life in the camp are in fact entirely organised
and run by the refugees themselves. A small mosque has been
set up under the shade of a tree, served by religious figures
from within the community.
Artisans and skilled professionals have brought out their tools
and ply their trade once more as they did back home. Schoolteachers
already gather a small group of children to continue with their
education.
“For much of the camp’s activities, we rely on participation
from the refugee community,” explains Langdon Greenhalgh,
Red Cross manager of Tréguine. “We provide space,
materials and equipment and we let them get on with things.
We consider it an integral part of the assistance we give them.”
Greenhalgh is keen to introduce more community participation
into the management of the camp. He and his team had extensive
contacts with refugee representatives even before the camp opened
last week, and have taken every opportunity to strengthen these
ties.
“We met first to organise the transfer of refugees from
Breijing camp to Tréguine,” he says. “Since
then we have consulted them on everything from site planning
to relations with the local population.”
Committees of representatives are being set up to deal with
a wide range of issues such as water and sanitation, community
services or health.
The input and participation of the refugee community is most
important in the field of hygiene and cleanliness. The Red Cross
sanitation team has appointed one person to look after the two
latrines in each commune of 40 people.
Equipped with buckets, shovels and wheelbarrows, they are responsible
for ensuring that the latrines are used properly and cleaned
regularly.
Twenty-three year old Khadija Sabre meets every day with these
hygiene officers, and passes on the various health and hygiene
messages.
“The refugees are very responsive to hygiene promotion,”
she says. “They are very keen to learn how to prevent
diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera.”
“When I checked several latrines two days ago, they were
very dirty,” she says as she walks through the camp on
her tour of inspection. “I sat down with the people in
charge and explained to them the importance of this work. When
I came back today, they were spotless.”
So far, the message has caught on enthusiastically. Soon it
will be extended to personal hygiene and washing, as well as
general health.
|
 |
 |
|
|
A
woman grinds millet in Tréguine refugee camp. Already
a pattern is emerging to daily life (p12083)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
These
children have already learned the importance of good hygiene
(p12084)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Khadija
Sabre, one of the people responsible for looking after
latrines, passes on health and hygiene messages to fellow
refugees in her part of the camp (p12088)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
These
Sudanese children seem happy with their new home in Tréguine.
But they are nonetheless growing up in exile (p12087)
|
|
News
