Water - the gift of life - for children in Darfur

From February 2nd to February 18th, Patricia Parker MBE, the Founder and CEO of Kids for Kids, visited Darfur for the first time in nine years. Violence and insecurity in the region have meant that it has always been difficult for Patricia to visit Darfur, but over the last nine years especially, the Government started refusing to grant her a visa. Last year however demonstrations resulted in President Bashir being arrested, and today there is a civilian government who want to help their people. This means that Patricia was able to finally return to Darfur to see first hand our projects that have been run so well by our small team in Darfur.

On Tuesday 11th February, Patricia had the pleasure of meeting Ibrahim once more, who 19 years ago, was the little nine-year-old boy she met walking alone for 7 hours in the desert to reach water. The last time Patricia saw Ibrahim was in 2003, before violence in the North made it impossible to visit his village of Um Ga'al. Ibrahim was the reason that Patricia started Kids for Kids as she visited his village and realised the great need of basic essentials. Kids for Kids was created to help children, and the first projects, and key projects still today, are clean water handpumps built close to villages, and a goat loan to provide families with milk and an income.

Patricia Parker MBE on meeting Ibrahim:

“There is so much to tell you – but I have to tell you some most exciting news first …. I met Ibrahim yesterday! He was the little 9-year-old whose 7 hour walk across the desert inspired Kids for Kids and has improved the lives of over half a million people. He is tnow 28, tall, good looking – and shy. I met his wife and two of his three little children, his brother and sister – and his lovely mother Asma. It was her extraordinary generosity in offering me their only food – a bowl of goat’s milk – that made me realise we had to try to help. Ibrahim’s eldest son is now at our first Kindergarten! 

I also met Ibrahim's friend Abdallah Salih who has taught himself English and sends me news astonishingly on FaceBook from their village Um Ga’al."

Please enjoy the photos below, and video to hear directly from Patricia. We are incredibly thrilled to share this meeting with you. 

Links:

• Patricia Parker MBE Meeting with Ibrahim at Um Ga'al Village

We are pretty certain that your access is much easier than what is faced by many families in Darfur.

News from the Third Inception Meeting in our recently adopted village, Abu Sinait A, has just arrived and the case studies are heart breaking. Over the past years this village has been horribly affected by violence, leaving the residents that remain even poorer (if that is possible) than many of our other villages.

Pictured above is Fatima, whose family has no beds. Along with her three little ones all under the age of five, she sleeps directly on the sand on the floor of her small hut. The family owns very few household items and no jerry cans for water.  Having not even a single jerry can is one of the biggest signs that a village is in the most horrible condition of poverty that you could imagine.  Fatima has been borrowing jerry cans from her neighbor for as long as she can recall. Borrowing jerry cans means the water collected must also be shared with her neighbor, which is only right, but means even more trips to collect water as it runs out so much faster. 

But this year, with your help, we were able to adopt Abu Sinait A, and Fatima's family has been chosen by her village as one of the first beneficiary families. Kids for Kids adopting this village actually allowed for Fatima to return to her village, as the family had been living in two different camps because there was no way they could stay in the village with what little they had and no prospects to speak of. Now Fatima can look towards the future - in her own home. 

Please can you provide Fatima and many other families like hers with jerry cans to carry water home?  When you turn on your water at home, please think of them.