SOS Psychologist with women in the SOS Family Centre in…

SOS Psychologist with women in the SOS Family Centre in the Abu Shok Refugee Camp in Darfur.

Living in Sudan's war-torn area of Darfur is hard and still dangerous nowadays, especially for women who have to provide for big families. As part of the SOS Emergency Relief Programme in Darfur, SOS Children's Villages supports refugee families with three psycho-social relief centres.

The midday summer sun beats down on Abu Shok Refugee Camp in Al-Fashir, Darfur. The scene is quiet, almost peaceful. Few people can be seen outdoors at this hour of the day. Only a few children in old clothes wander about and play. The children's mothers are nowhere in sight. They are probably out of the camp gathering firewood.

On some days the sun sets and one of the mothers does not come back home. Her seven or eight children wait and wait, but she will never return. Days later, perhaps, another woman from the camp will find the missing mother's body, raped and murdered somewhere in the bush. It is more likely, however, that no one will ever find her.

According to Jihad Madany, technical director of the three psycho-social relief centres of SOS Children's Villages ('SOS Family Centres') in Darfur, women have difficult lives in the area of Abu Shok Refugee Camp where the centres are located. "They have to do so much," Jihad says, "Even those who are married have to provide for the entire family. The men usually sit at home and wait for their wives to bring back food for the family."

Many of the women in the refugee camp, however, are single mothers; they are either widowed, divorced or have been abandoned. Although they receive some food from aid workers of various NGOs, it is usually not enough to provide for a family of seven or eight children.

This is why women have to search for sources of income in order to make ends meet for their families. Many of them leave the relative safety of the refugee camp and work in construction sites or gather firewood which they sell to their neighbours. Outside the camp they are at the risk of attack.

Mariam is one of the lucky ones. Her husband died in the conflict in Darfur and left her with seven children. However, thanks to the 'SOS Family Centres', Mariam has a decent job that keeps her from having to venture out into dangerous areas. Mariam does the cleaning at the centres.

"I have to work; it's very hard to live here. We get 6 pounds of sugar, 1/4 sack of flour, 1/2 pound of oil, and some lentils," she says, "This is for the entire family for a whole month, and it is all we have to live on, unless I work and try to buy some more."

The recently opened third 'SOS Family Centre' includes a handicraft tent. There many women receive training to make baskets, trays and other hand-made goods which they can offer for sale in the camp. Some women work at the day care unit of the new centre as babysitters, while others work as cooks for the children.

At all three centres, women attend awareness sessions on hygiene, healthy nutrition for their families and many receive therapy. It was difficult at first to convince women to undergo therapy. "Some had the misconception that if you are receiving psychiatric help, you're insane. It's still considered shameful by some," Jihad says, "They wouldn't bring their children as the mere suggestion that their children may have psychological problems was unacceptable."

In the meantime, many men, women and children receive therapy at the three psycho-social relief centres of SOS Children's Villages in Darfur. The centres have also helped various women find work or sources of income which prevent them from venturing out into unsafe areas.