NEWS FROM
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF
September 26, 2005
For more information contact Emily Sollie at esollie@lwr.org or 410-230-2802.
In this news release:
-
Clinic Supported By Lutheran World Relief And Act-Caritas Serves As Lifeline
CLICK HERE to sign-up to receive electronic newsletters and press releases through Lutheran World Relief's Action Center.
CLINIC SUPPORTED BY LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF AND ACT-CARITAS SERVES AS LIFELINE
[By Gillian Sanford for ACT-Caritas]
Mershing, Darfur, September 26, 2005 — A clinic supported by ACT-Caritas, a global church aid alliance of which LWR is a member, provided a vital lifeline to hundreds of people living in trouble-stricken South Darfur, Sudan. In mid to late September the clinic in Mershing - a village 87 kilometers due north of the South Darfur regional capital Nyala - was one of the few still open in the area, despite heightened insecurity.
The clinic is run by the Sudanese Development Organization (SUDO), a partner agency to ACT-Caritas. And when the violence escalated, its staff continued to treat the sick. At least one other clinic in the area had closed because of the security problems, leaving sparse health resources for those families living both in Mershing village and for the 5,000 people who live in eight surrounding camps.
The closure led to an influx of extra patients to the SUDO clinic. Workers at the clinic said they needed treatment for a range of conditions - particularly malaria and dysentery and vaccination for children - causing a rapid run on stocks of medicines.
Abdul Rahman Mohammed Abdul Karim is the medical assistant who continued working at the clinic, which is in Um Gusein camp. Um Gusein houses more than 1,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled to Mershing from their villages. Many have lived in the camp for well over a year. "After we had seen more than 100 patients, we called ACT-Caritas and the SUDO regional manager and said that we needed extra drugs," said Abdul Karim.
The worsening security situation also led ACT-Caritas to lobby for the African Union peacekeeping force to be deployed into Mershing and to launch daily patrols and to stay in the area overnight to enhance security. Local people said that African Union forces began to arrive on Wednesday and stayed overnight. Then, at the first opportunity on Thursday, ACT-Caritas sent Dr. Mohammed Mansour to the clinic with new supplies of drugs. He traveled with an AU military escort on the road from Nyala to Mershing and back and so was able to deliver the desperately-needed drugs to the clinic just in time. "All of the drugs for the whole clinic were finished," he said.
Security problems escalated in Mershing at the beginning of September. The driver of an NGO vehicle was shot. Men were attacked as they ventured beyond the perimeter to farm land, and women were abused when they went to collect firewood.
Local people said the AU presence had brought some stability to the area, but men in Um Gusein and women in the nearby Tonkittir camp both said they still felt insecure. They said that the AU forces did not protect them. "They say that it is only their job to monitor," said Abdul Karim, the medical assistant at Um Gusein.
Mariam Hamid Esa, 40, a mother of four, said that she was too afraid to leave the perimeter of Tonkittir camp, where she lives. "We stay here, inside the camp and we can’t go out." And Fatima, who has nine children and is also 40, said: "I feel that I don’t have any way to make money. I can’t get wood. We are here inside the camps but we don’t have work and because of this, we can't buy food. We feel that we are trapped."
WHO IS LWR? Lutheran World Relief, an international nonprofit organization, works to end poverty and injustice by empowering some of the world's most impoverished communities to help themselves. With partners in 35 countries, LWR seeks to promote sustainable development with justice and dignity by helping communities bring about change for healthy, safe and secure lives; engage in Fair Trade; promote peace and reconciliation; and respond to emergencies. LWR is headquartered in Baltimore, Md. and has worked in international development and relief since 1945.
Lutheran World Relief is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), individuals and parish groups in international relief, development, advocacy and social responsibility.
