World Vision responds to Sudan crisis
By Frank Stirk
BRINDISI, ITALY -- A trickle of aid has begun to flow into the war-ravaged region of western Sudan known as Darfur. An emergency airlift from Europe organized by World Vision landed there on Tuesday.
The people of the vast region -- comparable in size to France -- are the victims of a larger internal conflict that has engulfed Sudan for two decades. No one has been spared in the unparalleled suffering that is taking place.
Amnesty International this week accused a government-back militia known as the Janjaweed of using rape as a means of forcing the inhabitants of Darfur to flee their villages. Amnesty says it has the names of 250 rape victims -- some as young as eight -- and information on another 250 cases, the Daily Telegraph reported. Up to 30,000 residents of Darfur have died since fighting broke out last year.
The emergency aid that World Vision is hoping will alleviate some of the suffering is being directed at the region's growing refugee crisis, says Dirk Booy, vice-president of International and Canadian programs with World Vision Canada. He accompanied the airlift into Darfur.
CanadianChristianity.com caught up with Booy less than an hour before take-off from Brindisi, a port city on the "heel" of Italy, where World Vision has a warehouse stocked with emergency relief aid.
CC.com: Why will you soon be boarding a plane for Sudan? Why are you going there?
Dirk Booy: The most important reason is, is that there are about 1.3 million people in Darfur that have been displaced because of about 18 months' worth of conflict that has been going on in that part of Sudan. These people have been literally chased from their homes and have had to flee on a moment's notice. Many of them have had to endure intense suffering, including abuse and rape, and are now congregating in places in and around the towns of Darfur as displaced people.
It is very hot and it is very dry in western Sudan right now, and obviously these people need water and food and shelter. This is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world today, as declared by the United Nations, and so I think it's extremely important that we as a Christian community are responding to that.
CC.com: What kinds of material support are you taking along with you?
Booy: This flight contains non-food items required for setting up camps that people will be living in for only a short period of time, we hope. Primarily it is water containers to be able to store water in, blankets to be able to stay warm in the evenings, and thirdly, plastic sheeting which they can construct temporary housing with.
World Vision would like to be able to send more flights in in the next days and weeks. Obviously, this being the first flight that World Vision is sending down from Europe into Sudan, it's a bit of a test flight to see whether or not we can get in and the Sudanese government will allow us to land and hand over these items to our staff on the ground. And they will work together with the United Nations and other non-governmental organizations that are on the ground to bring the supplies to the people who need it.
CC.com: Can you actually guarantee that the aid that you're bringing will actually get to them?
Booy: At this point in time, it looks good. One has to understand that Sudan itself has been in a civil war for at least 20 years. That's been primarily the north against the south. And indeed, there were peace talks going on. However, those peace talks have collapsed, so we're not quite sure where that is at this point in time.
The northern government, which controls the area of Darfur, has been saying that they will open the corridors for humanitarian assistance. In the past, it's been very, very difficult to get in there. In a sense we are testing their statement that they will open that corridor.
CC.com: If all goes well, when would you anticipate other flights from World Vision heading into Darfur?
Booy: We definitely will follow up fairly quickly with more flights. We have a storehouse of relief supplies here in Brindisi, so we have quite a stockpile of goods here that can be sent down there, if we're assured that it will be received on the ground in Darfur and be given into the hands of the people that need it.
Relief flights are expensive, and so World Vision only wants to do this at the front end of a relief situation. Our hope is to establish a more permanent base on the ground in Darfur that would then be able to receive goods that would come in in a cheaper way. By rail or by road would obviously be more efficient for us.
CC.com: The people that will ultimately be receiving this aid, are they mostly Christians? I can't imagine that would be a factor in World Vision's mandate. You want to help people regardless of their faith, right?
Booy: That's correct. And in fact, whereas the north-south issue in Sudan is in many ways a Muslim-Christian issue -- where the Muslim north is trying to bring about sharia law in the south, which is predominantly Christian -- the situation in Darfur is slightly different. The black Muslims who are living in that area are being chased out by Arab Muslims. They control the north from Khartoum, and they have been arming the Janjaweed that are the ones doing these atrocities to the people of Darfur.
So to answer your question, World Vision is a Christian organization. We will meet the needs of all people, regardless of race or religion. Obviously we're doing this because we feel that God is calling us to meet the needs of everyone. And we hope that through what we do, people will feel the love of Jesus.
To donate to World Vision's relief effort in Darfur, call 1-800-268-5528 or go here.
