Charity groups help Sudan to rebuild stability in Darfur

The South Darfur region, one of the tension points of internal conflict in Sudan between 2003 and 2005, is among the beneficiaries of Turkish charity organizations. Kimse Yok Mu, which has a representative office in the region’s capital, Nyala, the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay), Yardım Eli, and Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) have organized in a wide range of areas from providing food to orphans to building schools.

Establishing its local office in 2008 Kimse Yok Mu has carried out various projects in the South Darfur region. Along with providing food to families and distributing aid packages periodically, the charitable association has taken steps to support sustainable development in the region. It has built a polyclinic to treat cataracts and other ophthalmological health problems two years ago and more than 6,000 cataract operations has been conducted so far by the volunteer doctors. The polyclinic is opened 11 months a year, save for Ramadan, to Sudanese people suffering from cataracts, a widespread illness in Africa. Adnan Avcı the director of the polyclinic stated that each cataract operation costs $100 and that all of the costs of the clinic, including those of the operations, have been supported by donations. Drawing attention to social effects of organization’s activities in South Darfur, Avcı noted that there was not a sufficient number of doctors in hospitals and poor health services make the government vulnerable to social protests. “If your daughter lost her sight because of a cataract, and you cannot find a doctor [to treat her], there is no way to join uprisings and violent protests.” said he reminding that their primary goal is to help people, not to uphold the government.

Ferruh Bican, one of the volunteer doctors in Kimse Yok Mu who successfully has restored the sight of more than 400 Sudanese patients, dismissed the security concerns in South Darfur voiced by international media saying “As far as I observe people here shoot gun only to celebrate the Eid al-Adha.”

The Turkish Red Crescent has been very active in the region and has intensified its activities especially after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Nyala in 2008. Explaining Kızılay’s efforts in Nyala the team’s head Hasan Yağcı told Sunday’s Zaman that they are running a hospital and distributing food every day. He argued that unlike many other charity associations, those from Turkey have no political agenda behind their aid campaigns. “There are many organizations but only the Turkish ones are aimed just at helping people.”

Pointing at charity organizations’ activities in South Darfur a former minister in local government who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Sudanese administration, along with a considerable portion of the public, is aware of the ‘hidden intentions’ which are for him carrying different goals.

“But we cannot say no to them because then we would face international pressure and accusations that the government hinders its people to get aids.” he added.

Abdul Hamid Musa Kasha, the governor of South Darfur, told Sunday’s Zaman that the contribution of Turkish organizations to strengthening social cohesion in the region has been perceived by the Sudanese people as ‘not coming from this organization or that organization, but from Turkey.” He also underscored that only providing food for the people is a temporary solution -- helping pave the way for sustainable development in the region would be more constructive.

Kimse Yok Mu has drilled water wells and built administrative buildings and mosques in Nyala. Orhan Erdoğan, the representative of the organization in Nyala, explains their future plans, stating that they are working on opening a school in South Darfur’s capital in one or two years.

Explaining the efforts to help orphans in the region who lost their parents in the civil war, Tamer Kalender, a Turkish businessman and member of Konya based charity organizations RİDA, said that after two years he launched a program to distribute food to Sudanese orphans in schools considerable progress has been observed. “We are providing food to more than 1000 orphans in 15 schools. The feedback we have received from their teachers motivates us increase our efforts. They tell us the orphans are becoming more successful and more social. They are more hopeful about future.” he added.