Water - the gift of life - for children in Darfur

Water is desperately needed in Darfur.  Walking many miles for water across the desert has to be done by everyone. In Rasheed Mattar's village in Darfur, children are struggling many miles for every drop.  Yet now they are weak from malnutrition as families' incomes have collapsed as inflation has soared.  Rasheed is a Kids for Kids supporter and wanted to raise money to fund the installation of a handpump in his home village of Abu Zureiga in Darfur, Sudan. Rasheed, fled Sudan aged 15 when it became too dangerous for him to remain.  He now lives in Luton UK and although he has permission to stay he wants to go home. His family and friends remain in Darfur but they are struggling.

Rasheed said ' I visited Darfur last year and I saw people still walking many miles to collect water. Sometimes they ride on their donkey, the only transport that people have. Lack of access to water remains one of the major drivers of the ongoing conflict in Darfur. I have big dreams. I thought to myself, ‘I can do fundraising to build a hand pump’. This will make a real difference in people’s lives. There is no possibility that the people in my village can afford to build a handpump, people are struggling even to eat. I want to do whatever I can to make a real difference in people’s lives in Darfur.' 

Rasheed planned to run 6km on the 25th of September, when the day arrived he not only reached his goal but kept on going, running 10km! Because he works full time with frail and elderly people he had little time to train so this was a personal best.  He has raised nearly £500 so far towards a handpump. An incredible achievement. Of course, this amount is not nearly enough. The recent economic crisis in Sudan has caused inflation to soar over recent months -167% in August - the price of everything is soarings yet the need for water is urgent.

Now we are asking for your help.

We wish we could bring better news but the people of Darfur are struggling now more than ever. We are not an emergency aid organization but in the absence of anyone else we have stepped up to help! We are providing mosquito nets to keep families safe from malaria and handsoap to keep disease and Covid-19 at bay but the priority must be water.  Families are faced with the prospect of walking miles every day to find water whilst they are struggling with malnutrition, malaria, and now, Covid-19.

Kids for Kids will never look the other way when it comes to the people of Darfur, we will continue to support them especially during the toughest of times.

Links:

• Why we focus on water.