The Darfur conflict has severely disrupted the lives of millions of people, with cruel consequences on their livelihoods. At the beginning of the conflict, there were massive human displacements. People in rural areas had no choice but to run for their lives to camps on the outskirts of poor urban centres.

Although more than two million people fled to these camps, many others managed to stay in their villages and tried to find ways to cope on their own with the daily challenge just to survive. In order to avoid further displacement, the ICRC aims to help people to sustain their livelihoods in remote villages. Oré is one such village.

Preparation is key

Planning is required before going to the village. Safe access to Oré is a priority. Before the team goes out to the field, security guarantees from all sides taking part in the conflict remains essential for the ICRC to be able to work safely. A truck providing enough room to carry all the necessary equipment and spare parts to rehabilitate water hand pumps is ready in advance. Once everything is organized, the ICRC team of engineers and technicians is prepared to leave.

Oré village is located near the town of Abata, more than an hour's drive north of Zalingei in West Darfur. It has almost 150 huts and 650 inhabitants. The road to Oré is cut off by wide seasonal rivers that are now dry, as the rainy season does not start until June.

Because of the sandy roads, the village is only accessible by donkey carts, 4 X 4 vehicles and trucks. On the way to Oré, the landscape reveals ruins of villages dispersed on both sides of the road as a sign of what the conflict has done to Darfur during the past four years.

Repairing water pumps

During the current dry season, almost all riverbeds have dried up in West Darfur. In the smaller villages, a drop of water is worth its weight in gold. This is what sheik Abdul Karim Adam Abakar from Oré village immediately points out. "Before the conflict started four years ago, we had our own livestock: sheep, cows and camels. People were happy in this village. Now life is difficult. What is most important for all of us is water. We desperately need access to safe water."

In Oré, the only water hand pump the rural community possessed was broken at the beginning of January. When it had stopped working, the villagers approached the health clinic in Abata to explain to a Red Crescent volunteer what had happened. While they waited for the ICRC's water team to come and repair it, they had to dig into the riverbed more than a metre in order to find water.

During the collection, the water is usually secondarily contaminated as people stand inside the hole with their feet, or the water is collected with cups that are not clean, or with dirty hands. "It requires a lot of time and effort to get a few litres of water for the daily needs of a family in the village. And many times the water produces disease amongst our people," Abdul added.

As soon as the ICRC team arrived in Oré, dozens of kids came running to welcome the newcomers. They knew something big was going to happen that hot afternoon, so they sat down under the shadow of the ICRC truck and waited patiently until the hand pump was repaired.

As soon as they saw the first drops, they all gathered around the pump, extending their tiny hands to drink clean water and wash their faces. Some of them rushed to their homes and brought back jerry cans and bowls to fill them. "On average, the minimum water for survival is 15 litres per person per day. Being able to repair the water hand pump is very important for the residents of Oré," explained Moubarak Abdulrahman, an ICRC engineer.

When the water started running through the pump, both the ICRC's water team and the residents of Oré were happy and satisfied. "This is an additional encouragement for the ICRC to do more, not just for this village but for others as well. The children's smiles constitute the most encouraging factor for us to continue to do our job," said Biserka Pop-Stefanija, an ICRC water engineer.

Harsh competition for resources

The majority of the population in Darfur are nomad pastoralists or farmers. Pastoralists make their living from their camels, goats, sheep and cows. As a result of the conflict, they have become impoverished because of restricted access to traditional migration routes, pasture and water, the looting of livestock and the disruption of veterinary services.

For farmers the situation is no better. The lack of security has restricted their movements and interrupted their agriculture, trade and services. This is the case in Oré village. "Although last year's harvest was decent, we are concerned that we may run out of food. And we are afraid that something may happen to us at anytime. This is our home, our life is here. We have a house. We have a family. We have land. I cannot leave my village. I cannot change my home. We want to live a normal life, but we cannot," says Sheik Abdul, with regret.

"The villagers welcome the ICRC team and they talk about their problems. The main concern for all of them is the lack of security. The armed conflict in Darfur has an impact not only on their daily life, but also on their future," concluded Biserka.