A
woman leans into the doorway of a stone building in Bredjing
camp. She holds out a tattered T-shirt belonging to her toddler,
who is slung to her back. Indicating a hole in the shoulder
seam of the T-shirt, the woman gives it to one of six women
busy inside the building.
The women, all refugees, sit behind black Singer or Butterfly
brand treadle sewing machines. As well as doing minor repairs,
these women, who are considered more vulnerable than other refugees,
are learning to sew clothes for children, women and men. This
morning they are making tunics out of cream-coloured cotton.
Abdraman Youssouf Siam. their tutor, himself a refugee, circulates
around the women, giving them guidance.
“A woman who is open to learning new things can learn
to sew in six months,” he says. “She can learn the
techniques of cutting and sewing, learning to use the sewing
machine. There are lots of things to learn.”
A year ago Fania Mahamat Idriss, 27, arrived in Bredjing, a
camp now managed by the Red Cross and home to 29,500 people
who fled conflict in neighbouring Sudan. Although she is married,
her husband left the camp four months ago. She has also lost
both parents, her father in fighting in Sudan.
Fania has been coming to sewing classes six days a week for
the past month, and says she appreciates the guidance of the
tutors.
“I like it because I want to learn a profession to practice
later,” she says. “I don’t know what I will
do in the future so I want to learn something useful.”
Although Fania would like to earn her living sewing, right now
she does not have the means to buy a sewing machine.
Chad Red Cross social welfare manager for Bredjing camp, Souleman
Dannah, says “we want people to leave the camp with something
useful. Here we have women who are vulnerable, women who are
not married, whose husbands are not here or who have no family.
We want to give them a chance in life and some meaning.”
“We hope they get machines after the course from one of
our partner humanitarian organisations. It’s important
for the women to keep using their skills so they don’t
forget after the course.
Since the workshop opened on 17 February 2004 the Red Cross
has given the students fabric and thread. In return, the finished
clothes are given to others in the camp.
About 500 metres away, in a round building in another part of
the camp, eight women are involved in different aspects of spaghetti
making. One woman mixes oil and flour in a bowl, several women
knead it, others roll out noodles on a heavy pasta-maker.
The finished product is hung on lines to dry, then packed in
bags which the women sell at the market for 100 francs (about
20 US cents) each. The ingredients are provided by the Red Cross
and there are similar groups in every block of the camp.
The women have decided to split the proceeds of the sales –
each woman keeps a small amount to buy something such as soap.
The rest goes into a communal fund to buy tea, juice or meals
for their meetings.
Their manager, Nawal Ibrahim Bachar, herself a refugee, says
normally there are up to 18 women. But today many of the others
are missing because of domestic obligations.
Selling the spaghetti is a slow business says 35-year-old Fatne
Mahamat Khamis: “It’s not expensive but it is a
problem of price because refugees don’t have much money.”
As with the sewing programme, the Red Cross is talking to other
organizations about helping the women get pasta machines they
can take back to Darfur. And it is clear the women enjoy their
work and their time together, and learn transferable skills
through the work.
In response to demand, the Red Cross already runs classes in
art and knitting. In future, refugees will be able to learn
fabric painting. A restaurant is being built where refugees
can learn cooking and restaurant management.
All the courses include a business component so that the refugees
can profit from their new skills.
And although people learn all the skills needed to complete
a task, they also work in a small production line to increase
their output.
International Federation social welfare delegate Annette Molle-Kouoh
says the courses are designed to help women be more independent
in future.
“The point is to help them get a profession so they can
earn their living afterwards, and maybe make some money in the
camp too,” she says. “We try to make their lives
as normal as possible even though many of them have survived
traumatic experiences in the past and continue to live in a
very trying situation.
“The courses help their confidence too. You can see them
blossom.”
Another source of pride are the weekly handball and football
matches that are enthusiastically supported by other refugees
and people from the surrounding villages.
Every Friday morning four teams of women in long pants, T-shirts
and headscarves do battle on a dirt field at Tréguine,
another camp managed by the Red Cross, which has 14,500 residents.
The players are all single women.
Seeing the ball flying towards her, a young woman leaps in the
air and smashes the ball away from her goalposts. She grins
from ear to ear and is congratulated by her team mates.
International Federation relief delegate Matanda Sadrack, a
keen footballer, enjoys watching the sports.
“At the beginning they were a little bit shy but now they’ve
started to be confident. A few of the women knew handball before
from school in Sudan.
“It’s fun, it keeps them busy, distracts them and
it’s good for their physical health.”
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Khadidja
Adam Ali learns to sew a tunic while her baby rests on
her lap (p12899)
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The
women’s tutor, Abdraman Youssouf Siam, gives the
women guidance. This vocational training gives the women
a profession they can use when they return home (p12900)
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Women
in Bredjing camp learn how to make and sell pasta. The
ingredients are provided by the Red Cross (p12901)
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The
noodles are dried, packed into bags and sold at the market.
He women not only learn a skill, they also earn extra
income while in the camp (p12902)
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