Ian Mawdsley Member of the International relations Committee responsible for Sudan

Conflict in the Sudan predates the birth of modern Sudan in 1956, however, it is in more recent years that this has become more widely known in the developed world. The internal conflicts have been responsible for the deaths of approximately 2 million people, and the displacement of over 4 million.  The mass exodus of refugees from the south of the country began in 1985-6 but continues to this day.

The area of Darfur in the west of the country has come into particular worldwide focus in recent times; regarded by the UN as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. In Darfur alone, more than 2 million people have been forced from their homes and are living in makeshift camps or with host families. 3.5 million people are without food.

The Society of St Vincent de Paul has been active in addressing the needs arising from the internal conflicts for a number of years. This has resulted in the establishment of a number of facilities and programmes including:

Homes - our oldest programme, take in orphans who are placed in the care of Sudanese couples, who act as foster parents and try to establish new family ties with them. Children receive food, medical attention, schooling and the affection so necessary to a child’s survival. Seven homes (four for girls and three for boys) are hosting about 200 children. All of them are orphans who survived the war raging in the South.

Farms - farms were set up to cater for the older children, the adolescents who are becoming more numerous, and to whom, in addition to primary and secondary education, we wished to provide the possibility for them to learn a trade. They learn how to cultivate the soil and rear cattle and in fact they produce enough food not only to nourish themselves but also contribute food supplies for the homes.

Vocational training - This program is, without doubt, the most important we have to help both the young people and the adults to become self-sufficient. In fact, every time one of our trainees leaves us, having completed his course and with a certificate proving his competence in his pocket, and he succeeds in finding a job, it gives confidence to all the others.

Older street children as well as displaced adults living in the vicinity benefit from our training centres.

In our farms and in three other centres, workshops provide training in carpentry, bricklaying, electrical work, welding, agricultural techniques and tailoring for both men and women. In two of the centres, we started refrigeration and air-conditioning workshops; in another one, leatherwork is taught

In the five centres, we also provide health awareness, first aid, adult education and methods of fighting HIV/AIDS.
We hope that the authorities will officially recognise the certificates given at the end of the course, which have already enabled a good number of their beneficiaries to become self-employed or to find a job.

Medical programme - Six doctors, four medical assistants, and four nurses are responsible for medical cares in four permanent clinics (25,000 treated), together with two mobile ones (1,000 treated) which visit all the schools or rakubas on a regular basis, as well as three out-patients’ or “Friday clinics” (10,000 treated). Some 45,000 patients were actually treated and received their necessary medicines in 2006.

Water Programme - Camps in the desert where the people have been displaced desperately need drinking water. Three tankers are supplying everyday about 120,000 litres of drinking water to these camps and to the 60 schools of the Archdiocese of Khartoum present there. In addition, a well has been bored which allows the population living nearby to obtain this precious water more easily. Each farm also has its own well.

Baby feeding Centres - In the poorest areas of the suburban shanty towns, several thousand children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition so serious as to cause irreversible brain damage.

Over recent years around 10,000 small children have received five meals per week in 17 centres on the outskirts of the capital, including about 370 babies living in jail with their mothers.

[Home] [About us] [Countries] [Activities] [News] [Contact us] [Resources] [Links]