Diary of a camp manager

Langdon Greenhalgh was the manager of the Red Cross Camp at Tréguine, eastern Chad. Here is his account of everyday life in the camp:

Journal entry #5 | Journal entry #4 | Journal entry #3 | Journal entry #2 | Journal entry #1

Wednesday, October 13th, 2004 (Journal Entry #5)

Getting up this morning was a little more difficult than usual due to an unwelcome visitor last night. Around 3 am, I felt a bug crawling around in my sleeping bag, which is not actually all that strange these days, and I groggily attempted to squash it. Next thing I know, a shooting pain (in my “derrière” no less!) has my mosquito net flying in the air with me not far behind. After finding a light I found that I had been stung by a not-so-friendly scorpion. Fortunately it wasn’t a venomous one, but it still had be avoiding sitting down anywhere for a day.

My first meeting of the day is with our newly created Executive Committee, composed of leaders from the refugee community. The Committee has been appointed on a temporary basis by their peers until everyone arrives in the camp - 600 people continue to arrive daily - and we can hold formal elections.

Our intention is to give as much as responsibility as possible for the governance and management of the camp to the refugees themselves. Fifty per cent of those on the committee are female. The committee’s spokesperson is Nouren, who is a very senior community leader, or fourcha from Darfur, and his female counterpart, Hawa, is a teacher. They are incredibly kind and friendly people and are very much taking to the challenge of helping the Red Cross to run a camp that is safe and responds sympathetically to their collective needs.

Our frequent meetings take place on a plastic tarpaulin - squatting unfortunately, particularly today - under the shade of a large tree in the centre of the camp. The topics of our discussions today cover wood collection points, the need for neighbourhood watch teams to help us with internal camp security, the creation of other new committees – responsible for security, grievance and education - and management of the camp cemetery.

Communication is tricky as they speak a combination of Arabic and Massalite necessitating two different translators who can take my serviceable French and make it understood. But somehow we always manage to understand one another as we are driven by the same good intentions. Though the Executive Committee has only been working with the Red Cross for little over a week now, one can start to sense the feeling of empowerment that comes with its increasing role.

Friday October 8th, 2004 (Journal Entry #4)

My favourite part of almost most every day working here in Tréguine camp is around dusk. After long days of trying to organize and manage more than 200 staff and running what is essentially a new small town, I make a point of walking through the camp just before the sun sets. The heat of the day that often reaches well over 110 degrees Fahrenheit is finally subsiding and people are able to come out from under whatever shade they’ve been hiding behind most of the day.

There is a definite increase in activity as the women move back and forth either preparing the evening meal or returning many kilometres away with huge stacks of wood on their heads. The smell of the small fires starting up throughout the camp starts to filter all around as I walk through the blocks of communities we’ve organized.

We’ve purposely moved people into the camp according to the communities they came from in Sudan knowing that maintaining their community fibres is critical to their survival and prosperity. Even though the camp has only been open for little more than two weeks now you can see those community networks at play. Other groups of women sit together knitting, children play makeshift games of football and the men are usually preparing for prayer.

The first small house markets are starting to pop up here and there throughout the camp while each tent we’ve provided is now surrounded by other small makeshift facilities for cooking and shade from the sun. The newest arrivals are quickly trying to get their new homes ready and organize their meagre possessions before sunset brings their first night in their new homes.

And I’m frequently amazed to hear camp residents call out my name – or “London” as they say it - bringing a smile to both their faces and mine. Simply put, this daily walk through the camp at dusk regenerates the spirit, reminds me of why it is all worth the struggle and charges the my battery for the next day’s work.

Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 (Journal Entry #3)

Today was our first day of distributions in the Treguine Camp. I love doing distributions and always look forward to seeing the expressions on the faces of those who receive the Red Cross goods that come from all over the world. Today we would be handing out food kitchen sets and buckets sent in two days ago on an emergency British Red Cross flight.

But having done distributions in many different countries and in many different circumstances, I know that the first day is always the toughest. You’re never quite sure how people will act and distributions are usually where any anger and discontent in the beneficiary population you are serving can surface.

Before we welcomed our first group of people, much needs to be done to get the distribution site ready: putting in place the weighing scales, moving all of the supplies from the warehouses, preparing the ist of beneficiaries, lining people up in an orderly way.

In a few days thousands of people will have passed through this site, having received large bulk rations of food for one month (maize, sorghum, vegetable oil, lentils, sugar and salt), a steel kitchen set (2 pots, 5 bowls, 5 cups, utensils and a serving spoon) that I would use in my own home, large bars of soap and a big bucket.

But welcoming the first person through a distribution site is always an important moment and you could feel the nervous tension dissipate from our team of Chad Red Cross volunteers as the first smiling lady received her rations and the volunteers settled into a long day’s work under the hot Chadian sun.

The food ration in particular was so large that many people had to bring their donkeys over and ask for other people in the camp to help carry the load. A group of families receives their collective food ration, according to family size, and then they have the responsibility of dividing it among themselves. They all sit around in a circle eagerly watching and talking as a respected member of their group of families equally divides the rations up among them all. The buckets and kitchen sets we had just given them were immediately taken out and used by the people to help in this equal division of the rations and to carry their new supplies.

Despite my earlier concerns, this turned out to be one of the most controlled and peaceful distributions I’ve ever managed. The beneficiaries are so very patient and grateful for what they are receiving.

Wednesday, September 29th, 2004 (Journal Entry #2)

There was an unusual chill in the air this morning that had many of us struggling to climb out of our sleeping bags. But soon enough all of the expats were gathered around the kitchen table for many cups of coffee and our daily coordination meeting at 6:45 AM. Now that the camp is open there is a certainly a greater purpose to these meetings, as during the day we are running all over the place taking care of our various responsibilities and simply don’t have a chance to get together all at once. The health team leader, Stefan from the German Red Cross, reported that the health centre in the camp was receiving more and more consultations each day from the refugee population, locals and even some of 70 or so labourers from the local community who work at the camp. Walter, the sanitation team leader reported that they have already started the hygiene promotion with the refugees regarding the use of our latrines but unfortunately that we continue to lose plastic sheeting for the latrines to thieves during the evenings. I was very happy to report that the transfer team would tomorrow increase the number of people transferred to 400 per day, from the current 200, as all is going very smoothly.

There was a collective sigh from around the room when I reminded the various teams to get me all the reporting data requirements for our weekly report. We also set the schedule for cooking dinners over the next week. The new Federation health coordinator fortunately volunteered to spare us all from my cooking tonight by making a traditional dinner from his home country of Benin.

The first part of the morning was taken up with various administration issues: latrine construction workers had to be paid, our new house manager had to be given his instructions, the truck drivers needed fuel, new volunteers were given mosquito nets and blankets, and a radio call was made to Abéché to coordinate the arrival of new delegates.

Then I went to the camp itself where my first task was to assess the damage caused by the most recent storm. I recalled the image of walking around the corner of our house only to see Thomas, our doctor, running in my direction pursued by a huge rolling warehousing tent that was being blown across our compound by a fierce wind.

I then had to ensure that the installation of tents was running smoothly. All too often during the past couple of days the refugees arrived just as their tents were going up and this left very little margin for error. I was assisted in sorting out our tent installation problems by a young but experienced Chad ed Cross (CRT) volunteer by the name of Abbas. The CRT volunteers have made a noticeable difference to the operation in Treguine.

Abbas quickly had tents flying up throughout the camp which left me free to check on the transfer process from the Breijing camp area. The road between Breijing and Tréguine is about 5 km in distance but it takes almost a half an hour to go from one camp to the other. Steep valleys, deep ruts torn into the ground during the rainy season, rocks, wadis and animal traffic make travelling along this route a lot like riding a broken roller coaster. It is a bone jarring trip that quickly wears on the body and vehicle. Sure enough on our trip to Breijing this morning a WFP truck overloaded with food had flipped over onto its side spilling food, petrol and oil all over one of the most treacherous sections of the road.

Fortunately no one was injured in the crash but this immediately set up a new hurdle for our transfer team. Our convoy was now fully loaded with new refugee arrivals and all their possessions but stopped in its tracks by the WFP truck which was blocking half of the road. After an assessment of the passing area I made the decision to have the convoy pass by the overturned truck along another uneven stretch of land. It was only after the five fully-laden trucks had made their way through that I started breathing normally again. Then it was off to WFP to coordinate with them assistance from two of our other trucks to off load the food and get their damaged vehicle off the road.

My job is frequently a cross between a juggler and a fireman, and that was certainly the case today.

Monday, September 27th, 2004 (Journal Entry #1)

Today was an excellent day here in Chad. Having been delayed for 12 days while Oxfam and UNHCR found a sustainable water source for the camp, we finally opened Treguine refugee camp.

I rose just after five in the morning to the usual farmyard noises of the rooster calls and the screeching donkeys. But today was different as all through our housing compound there was sense of anticipation given the knowledge that today our team would get the chance to really start doing the job we all came here to do.

It was a crazy day from the very beginning with so many different issues to take care of. But in the end it all went quite smoothly. We had 15 new Chad Red Cross volunteers to incorporate into the team, trucks to get on site, journalists interested in the opening to accommodate, coordination with UNHCR and the Chadian refugee agency, and tents to erect in time for the refugees arrival.

As we drove in convoy through the fields of thousands of refugees camped around the nearby Breijing refugee camp, it was with great satisfaction that I realized that from this day onwards we would eventually help them all to have a healthier and safer life.

The loading of the trucks went very smoothly with the refugees eagerly climbing up onto the four-ton Chad Red Cross trucks. It was quite something to see the refugees packing up the small possessions they have and dismantling their makeshift shelters to get ready in time for their departure. It was so very much like a moving day which almost everyone has experienced filled with excitement, smiles, anticipation and fear.

In fact, it will take quite some time to get this smile off of my face now that the camp is open. It is simply excellent to be providing direct services to these families who clearly will benefit from the services the Red Cross can provide. It was so good to see the refugees all moving into their new homes while strangely distressing at the same time. One still can't help but feel sad that they are moving into a new temporary home instead of heading back to their actual homes in Darfur, Sudan.

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