Harvest for the Future

On an August morning Jane Ohuma points to a large map of Sudan in the Khartoum office of United Methodist Committee on Relief. Jane’s arm sweeps from west to east as she explains to a visitor the plight of displaced people out in Darfur, seven hundred miles from the capital city. Ms. Ohuma is Head of Mission for one of UMCOR’s newest programs, operations in Sudan that began in February 2005.

Funded by a large gift from Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church, Tipp City, Ohio, and other grants, the agriculture program based in the Al Daein region of South Darfur already has crops in the ground. Some 5,200 families are working the 4-hectare farms. At an average five per family, that adds to well over 25,000 beneficiaries.

“People’s Need and People Driven”

A program like this is a bit like a puzzle. Needs and resources at a variety of levels, like interlocking puzzle pieces, must be fit together. Most importantly, Ms. Ohuma stresses, solutions to hunger and livelihoods “must address people’s need and be people driven.” The United Methodist program does just that.

For example to strengthen the local economy UMCOR contracted with local blacksmiths to make hoes and other handheld tools for the displaced farmers, rather than purchasing them from a factory. Displaced people have no land of their own. So area landowners offered parcels of land in exchange for a portion of the sorghum, millet, cowpeas, melon, okra and peanuts.

An agronomist on UMCOR’s field team showed the families how to “intercrop,” or mingle, their plantings to reduce risk of crop loss to disease or predators. At one farm sorghum, groundnuts and okra have been intercropped.

Good rains are also part of the equation—and this season they have been excellent. The agriculture ministry of the Sudanese government predicts a bumper crop.

A successful harvest reaches into the future, Ms. Ohuma points out, providing enough seed for a new season, cash or barter capability, and sufficient food until next harvest. There is one planting season in Darfur.

Back Home: Uninhabitable

The displaced would like to go back home, says Ms. Ohuma. Instead they have joined Sudan’s uprooted. For them, “back home” is uninhabitable. In Kubda, or Zalinge, or Muterr—towns in the Sudan’s largest state of Darfur—the wells are filled in with dirt or fouled with corpses. All the houses were looted and burned, and schools and community health clinics razed. The people lost everything they had.

They fled in the hundreds of thousands in all directions—west to Chad, eastward and southward to the region of their state known as South Darfur. Some fled from the southern states. Now they live in settlements and camps for the displaced.

Their host communities, towns within short distances of the camps, are almost as impoverished as they are. Some have fled more than one place, hoping for safety. Ms. Ohuma says, “The farms offer more than an occupation for those who are working them. They offer hope for their survival.”

Models for Other Programs

UMCOR aid workers have also constructed a reception center at El Ferdous, located in the same vicinity as the farms. Typically, says Ms. Ohuma, a camp population is rather fluid as residents enter and leave. The reception center allows a registration process that will facilitate future UMCOR follow up with the camp residents as they eventually prepare to return home.

The Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and the World Food Programme recently named the reception center a “model” for all other camps, says Ms. Ohuma. HAC is the government monitor of all humanitarian activity throughout Sudan.

“Model development is a useful strategy in humanitarian service only if it is accompanied by extension into a program,” says the Rev. Paul Dirdak, UMCOR director. “The UMCOR-built reception center at El Ferdous is a model we hope to see extended not only in our own work but by others,” he points out.

The farms are another kind of model. When new arrivals see “how beautiful the crops are,” Ms. Ohuma beams, and what has been accomplished in a short time, they want to participate as well. HAC officials are also pleased at the rapid progress. Ms. Ohuma says the proof of HAC’s compliment will be the continuation of the agency’s mandate later this year. She anticipates that UMCOR will receive high marks for work in Al Daein.

UMCOR is also distributing emergency supplies to camp residents. Plastic sheeting becomes a roof that provides shade from the sun and protection from the rains. Jerry cans serve as water collectors from the water points in both host communities and camps. Blankets provide warmth on the cool savanna evenings.

Originally from Kenya, Jane Ohuma worked for a time in Kosovo and then in Eritrea before joining UMCOR. “I left Eritrea because the programs were the same year after year,” she reflects. “In UMCOR Sudan there is so much to do. We have the potential to be a high flyer in Sudan.”

United Methodists can get involved in these ministries through giving to UMCOR Advance #184385, Sudan Emergency. United Methodist Committee on Relief is a 501(c)(3) charity and all contributions are fully tax deductible. Checks may be mailed to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10187-9068. Donors using a credit card may call toll free 800-554-8583.