Firewood collection: A threat to women and a threat to the environment.

ACT/Caritas's Darfur Emergency Response Operation is working on initiatives to protect both.

By Charlotte Brudenell, ACT-Caritas field communicator

Zalingei, West Darfur, January 30, 2007 - As the afternoon sun beats down and despite their heavy loads, their pace is fast and unrelenting. The three women are hurrying back to the safety of the camp.

On their heads they carry bundles of wood. What they can carry will cook today and tomorrow's meals.

The dangers associated with the collection of firewood for internally displaced women in Darfur are all too well documented.

"We don't know where they are, but we are afraid of these people. They are living in the forest with their camels and horses and they have weapons and we don't," says Hawa, 45 years old.

"A relative of mine in another camp went to get firewood and was attacked by one of them. When she refused him, he tried to stab her with a knife and she took several days to recover from her injuries," she adds.

It's a risky business but these women have little alternative. They depend on wood in order to cook their families' meals.

"If I have 100SD (US$0.50) I can buy a small bundle from the market which will last me one day. If I do not have any money or anything to sell, then I have to go and collect it myself. Mostly I go every other day," she says.

Hawa never goes alone, with other women in the camp they arrange to go in groups of three of four. Although the African Union (AU) offers firewood patrols, the women refuse to be accompanied as they do not trust the AU and do not think the AU can protect them.

In internally displaced persons (IDP) camps throughout Darfur ACT-Caritas is training women in how to make energy-efficient stoves. The stoves decrease the amount of wood used (and the amount of time spent cooking), and in turn, this reduces the frequency with which women need to leave the safety of the camps in search of wood.

In November 2006, 100 women received this training. Once they know how to make the stoves, the women are encouraged to pass their knowledge on to their friends.

The energy saving stones, made from local materials of sand, clay, straw and animal dung dried in the sun, cost next to nothing to make. The stove creates an enclosure around the fire (traditionally an open fire on the ground) which limits the wastage of heat and protects the fire from the wind, so the wood burns slower too.

Additionally, in using less wood, these stoves can play a role in protecting the environment by lowering the use of natural resources.

In Darfur, the densely populated camps for the internally displaced are having a serious impact on the environment. In the past three years of crisis, a lot of damage has been done.

Hawa has lived in Hamadiya camp for three years. "There is no firewood nearby anymore, now we have to go far to collect wood," she says. With her two companions, they left their homes in the camp at around eight in the morning and returned to the camp at three.

Hamadiya is one of four camps around Zalingei town and Hawa is one of over 90,000 people who have been forced from their villages who now live crammed into a few kilometres around Zalingei.

A kilometre-wide periphery around the camps has been all but cleared of trees. And beyond that, where once there was a tree every 30-40m, there is now a tree every 300-400m.

But ACT-Caritas partner SUDO's agro-forestry project is helping to combat the deforestation and resulting desertification.

In three tree nurseries in West and South Darfur, SUDO planted over 125,000 trees in 2006. In Hamadiya camp, 37,000 trees were distributed among all the households for people to plant in their compounds.

Hawa received three trees, but one died. In two years time, the trees will give substantial shade. "It will be good to have the shade of the tree to sit under," says Hawa.

But Hawa hopes that she will have returned to her village before the trees have grown so big.

(ends)

Action by Churches Together (ACT) International and Caritas Internationalis

(CI) are working together in a joint response to the Darfur crisis.

ACT International is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.

Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organizations present in 200 countries and territories.

For further information, please contact: Caritas Internationalis Media Officer Nancy McNally (phone: +39 06 698 797 52)

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