A Message from Darfur's Young People |
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January 26th, 2007 - 02:36PM |
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Photo: Gerald Martone/The IRC International Rescue Committee communications officer Emily Holland is keeping a blog of her trip to Darfur, Sudan. I visited Abu Shok Camp on Tuesday and one of ten youth leadership councils the IRC operates there. Ages 14 to 25, youth leaders are chosen by their communities – or camp blocs – to represent their peers and bring issues affecting displaced young persons to the fore. In weekly meetings, IRC staff and youth leaders strategize and develop programs that provide education, skills trainings and social activities to displaced youth. Some that are happening now: a computer training class, a carpentry workshop and a soccer team. With 4,000 displaced youth living in Abu Shok Camp, scarce jobs, little access to education and compromised security, the challenges facing the leaders are great. I asked the twenty young women and thirty young men gathered at the meeting about their hopes for the future, for Darfur and what their message is to other young people around the world. Q. What is life like for youth in Abu Shok? There is no education. No security. Not enough food. Here there are no jobs. If you go to buy goods, criminals steal them from you. It’s difficult to get transportation to school. Most of us have no money for taxis, so we have to go on foot. Q. How many of you are in school now? 3 of us went to university. 15 of us are in secondary school. Q. What do the youth who aren’t part of the youth committees or enrolled in school do? Nothing. Sit around. They have nothing to do. Q. Do you feel safe inside the camp? No. Inside the camp, there is no security – especially at night. There is no security. Especially for women. There is no freedom of speech. If there is fighting, we’re not allowed to speak about it. There is some peace here, but it is not complete. Q. What is your hope for Darfur? Peace first. Then to return to our villages. We have no homes anymore. We’ll just find land. Everything has been taken. Everything has been lost. We’ll need help to rebuild our lives. Security. Education. To build our capacities. Q. What is your message to young people your age around the world? We want them to know about our activities and our problems. We want them to support us. To understand that we need education and healthcare. The individuals whom people from outside Darfur are exposed to are not always necessarily from the camps. We want youth from all over the world to see what life is like here. To hear the real story. Earlier: Women's Center Photos Posted By: Kathleen Sands | Africa, Children & Youth, Diaries & Journals, Sudan & the Darfur Crisis, _Emily Holland in Darfur Permalink |
