So, by now, you know that we weren’t able to visit any refugee camps. To echo the chorus, obviously it’s extremely disappointing. Colin and I were both looking forward to meeting the people that we, and thousands of students, had been working for, and bringing their stories back to inspire and inform our activism. But, I will be back. This cause means to much to me to abandon the people.

It would be a mistake, however, to cast the entire experience as a failure. Despite the fact that a large majority of our time was spent in a fitness center, I do feel like I learned a few lessons that can help inform our actions in the future.

The first is one that Colin touched on his last post. When I first got involved in this conflict, it was all about Darfur. All we talked about were the dreadful statistics coming out of Darfur, and analyzed what we could do to improve the situation for the Darfurians. We can’t continue to think of the conflict like that. The rebellion and unstable situation in Chad directly impacts the situation in Darfur, just like the problems in South Sudan. The Central African Republic is similarly unstable. In order to successfully improve the lives of millions of Darfurians in the long-term, we must also seek to address the conflict in Chad. The Sudanese government funds the Chadian rebels, and hundreds of thousands of Darfurians are stranded in Chad. They’re tied together at the hip.

I think it’s also important to recognize the importance in dealing with the structural problems that have formed this conflict. Humanitarian aid is extremely important to immediate refugee survival. Protection will allow many to return home in peace, but similarly, is a band-aid solution. In order to secure long-term peace, we need to recognize the rift between the Sudanese and the Darfurians, the Chadian rebels and the Chadian government, and the Chadians and the Sudanese. There are a lot of unhappy, conflicting parties at the table, and we need to recognize the importance of all of their needs, or this conflict won’t go away anytime soon.

This trip also demonstrated the difficulties in working in this region. While we were in Abeche, most humanitarian flights stopped, and a lot of UNHCR staff was pulled back from the camps. Thus, the refugees weren’t getting the care they deserved because of the conflict in Chad. Additionally, the rebels looted several camps, destroying rations and supplies, putting the refugees in peril as the rainy season approaches. The rebel movement greatly impedes the work of humanitarians, which in turn, makes the job of helping refugees even harder.

Again, the fact that we didn’t meet any refugees is disappointing. But the trip, in a way, strengthened my resolve to fight on during this conflict. I do so, however, knowing that my efforts must encompass the entire region. I also do so knowing that change will not occur quickly. We must appreciate the small steps along the way; money appropriated towards humanitarian aid, protection officers on the ground, peace talks amongst the rebel groups. Solving this multi-country conflict won’t be easy, and it won’t happen tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day. But if we keep up our efforts, we can achieve peace for Sudan, Chad, and the rest of the region. It just will take time, energy, and a little bit of patience. After all, this is Africa.

It’s a quiet early morning in N’Djamena. It’s not the eerie, bad, thick quiet that we could almost feel in February. There are fishermen out in the river, moving oh so slowly. The moon, looking full, is hanging low over on the Cameroon side. We made it to the capital, leaving the east and all humanitarian efforts in worse conditions than when we arrived in the country.

Our departure from Abeche came about in just about the same manner as everything else that has been happening in Chad during this trip, unexpected and not at all as planned. We had just confirmed that we were on the manifest for the 2pm flight, so we had many hours to kill at our safe home-gym, a walk away from the major UNHCR compound. We talked with Youssouf and left note Bouba. We packed. We still had hours to kill. Then, Suzanne runs in: “Let’s go! Let’s go!! Your on the plane that is leaving right now!!!”

We laughed with Suzanne, as we got all of our stuff, took down our tech equipment that allows us to stay connected to the world, and ran to the car. We were out in less than five minutes. We had a few team meetings where we talked about having to be ready to run in a hurry and without leaving essentials. If fighting came to the city, how well you react on the run, in the hear-of-the-moment can be the difference between—and I don’t want to sound overly dramatic but—life and death. I had gone through the scenario a few times in my head. To get to our flight, we got out in less time than I thought it would take us to get away from bullets.

We are all now in N’Djamena. What we hear is that the country is relatively quiet. The worse might be over, for now. The rainy season will hit in full, so the rebels go back to Sudan, so that they do not get stuck without possibility of a quick exit (we know how that feels). What is clear from all this mess is that that, again, the regular people that were already in bad shape will be the ones to suffer even more.

Humanitarian aid was disrupted during crucial times. This is when they prepare for rainy season, stockpiling food and material that will not be able to get in to the displaced, when the river run full. It is activity that is—and here I want to be very appropriately dramatic—about life and death. Refugees and internally displaced Chadian experienced the booms and the bangs that must fit in to the scars of the booms and the bangs that destroyed their own villages and killed family and friends.

This is my fifth trip to the region. This one was different. I did not make it to the camps. I did gain a greater understanding of the challenges and on the edge, precarious conditions that exist out here. I also gained energy, if that makes sense. We, the activists in this movement, have to be able to tough it out. We have to get focused and really come together. We are not in it for ourselves, our groups, our organizations or even our abstract concepts of peace and justice. We are in it for real people that are awaking today to a new day for not knowing what it will bring. They must be wondering if anyone is going to come and help. For now, they do know the rainy season is beginning, and now they must worry about how to keep their children alive.

Paz,
Gabriel

It looks like there’s no longer a chance that we can make it out to refugee camps this time. After spending so much time getting permits, talking to officials, and waiting for flights that never left, it’s frustrating to see it slip from our fingers when we came close so many times. I’m trying not to get too disappointed though, because as we keep telling ourselves, this is Chad. I know (knock on wood) that G and KTJ will have better luck next time, and I’m sure I’ll be out here again sometime.

We’ve been writing a lot about what goes on in Chad this trip, and many of our readers are primarily focused on resolving the situation in Darfur. I hope this hasn’t disappointed anybody, but one thing this trip has emphasized for me is how much of a regional conflict this is. When I first started as an activist, I tended to isolate the conflict to just Darfur. As I learned more, I started to think of it in terms of an “all-Sudan solution.” Being in Chad and learning about refugee camps, funding, rebels and the Central African Republic has drove home how important it is to think of this as a regional conflict.

The relationship between Sudan and Chad has gone from precarious to officially severed in recent months, and this is a dangerous situation for the thousands that are still fleeing from violence in Darfur. What happens if Chad suddenly refuses to accept any more refugees? I’m not sure that the government has the capacity to enforce this, but it would certainly make the work of UNHCR harder because they have play by the Chadian government’s rules while here.

Refugees from the Central African Republic are flowing into southern Chad, stretching UNHCR resources and creating a belt of camps that circles nearly half of the country. UNHCR efforts in the south are poorly funded, in part because the side of the conflict receives less attention. I should note that this is no criticism, but should be taken as a reflection on what it really takes to get adequate funding for these efforts. Because the camps cover such a large area in Chad now, it is harder for EUFOR to protect all the refugees at once.

Rebels in Chad and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Darfur are constantly clashing with their respective governments, but their relationship is not easy to understand. Irish forces were taking gunfire from rebels in refugee camps outside of Goz Beida recently, and it’s difficult to make sense of why the camps would be a target. What may be even more dangerous for the refugees is the reality that aid workers are often evacuated if there is danger to their life. Without flights to the camps and aid workers operating on the ground, refugees can’t get food, water or medical supplies.

It still isn’t easy for me to wrap my mind around the entirety of this conflict. There are so many different players, and it seems like their relationships are always in flux. However, I feel like my understanding is deepening the more I try to understand what’s going on in Darfur in the context of the entire region. A true solution to this problem will undoubtedly encompass more than just this relatively small region. Now we just have to hope that instability throughout the region doesn’t hurt Darfur any more than it already it is.

At the end of writing this I realized I had started a short diatribe, and so if you don’t get to the end, I thought I would add the punch line here: Even though i-ACT5 did not make it into the camps, PLEASE, for all the innocent civilians caught in this crisis, CONTINUE EACH DAY TAKING ACTION FOR DARFUR.As we walk to UNHCR for our usual Suzanne check-in, I begin to think about commitment and what it means to me. In this situation, a person’s commitment is only as strong as their personal threshold for stress. There is a point when that commitment is interrupted. This is not to say that the obstacles that we have faced this trip have weakened my commitment, I just wonder what my personal threshold is, and why it is different from other peoples. Since I studied sociology, what situations, people, environments and institutions contributed to my personality in such a way that created my strong commitment to equality, justice, and moreover the believe that every person has a right to choose their own future?

If anything being caught here, once again, in Chad while rebels scurry from town to town in an attempt to dislodge their President, has reaffirmed by commitment to this work. During this crucial time when media focuses on self-reporting from rebel and government leaders and makes heroes out of UN forces, the innocent civilians are those who are most affected, and the ones given the least amount of voice. Not only the refugees who probably relived their own villages destruction during all of this, but the regular Chadian who has the market stall, or the mother who cares for her children. These are the innocents. But, they are also the disposables to so many people. Their stories are not told. The voices muted by those with fancy titles and positions of power.

For now, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis is Chad-Darfur. But all over the world live the voiceless. But they are only voiceless because of those who turn a deaf ear. They have a story, and an opinion. They are knowledgeable beyond comprehension in survival, and culture. They are very much alive here, and in the Congo, Burma, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Columbia, and all over the world.

We can give their voice meaning in our lives, and our neighbors, and their neighbors, and then, through our mutual commitment, begin to live in a global community.

I can’t imagine turning back to the life I lived before activism. My life had very little meaning outside of myself. It is also hard for me to imagine doing anything else with my life than what I am doing at this very moment. Many people ask me what I am going to do next, as if I was working towards a different job title or occupation. But this is it. For the rest of my life, in whatever capacity, I am committed to work for the voice of the people to be respected and heard.

I don’t think it would be fair to ask the same thing of you, but I do want to ask you, that even though i-ACT5 has not been the usual i-ACT, you are still the same committed i-ACTivist, and you can still take action, everyday for the people of Darfur.

Hello friends:

Following on the theme for World Refugee Day (June 20), we decided to take on that general theme for our trip: Protection. We were to focus on what protection means to the millions of displaced, and, when visiting the camps, show how the refugees feel about protection in the camps and back home. As with our trip in February, a lot of our attention has been re-directed to our own protection.

Since we arrived in Abeche, the main town in Eastern Chad, the rebel offensive has disrupted humanitarian aid throughout the region. It has also kept us in Abeche. We are keeping an eye out on N’Djamena, knowing that it is the main goal for the rebels, but it is also our way out of the country.

Yesterday, Abeche prepared for the rebels. The market was closed; children were taken out of school; aid worker were under curfew. It is morning now, the time that rebels usually attack, and all is quiet, so far.

The team is doing well. We are staying informed and looking at our options. We are close to French and EUFOR bases, which would be the place to go, if the rebels do come. We are all losing some weight, but getting enough to not go hungry. It’s the Chad diet. I have always lost between 10 and 15 pounds during my different trips.

At UNHCR, Suzanne was been more than wonderful, keeping us well informed and helping our spirits with her positive energy. We are still waiting to see Bouba, our translator. I am sure that, as soon as he sees it’s safe, he will come with driver to Abeche. We want to see him back here. He knows everyone here, and I’m sure it’s where he wants to be. We are less concerned about our supplies and panels that are in the car with him, but it would be nice to have some more changes of clothes, more options on food, and the tiles that refuse to be pinned down to be taken to the US.

Thank you all for the positive notes in your comments. Please keep them coming. We will let you know how things continue out here. Let’s hope for peace and protection for all the people in Chad, Darfur, Sudan, and the entire region.

Paz,
g

The rebels have left Goz Beida and UNHCR has resumed flights to the area. All 230 international and national staff members of NGOs stationed in Goz Beida spent last night safely at the EUFOR compound. These same troops, mostly Irish and Danish, are also responsible for protecting the almost 16,000 Darfur refugees who fled their country because targeted ethnic violence and the thousands of IDPs in the surrounding area.

Some NGO compounds were looted as well as one UNHCR warehouse set ablaze, but it is not clear by whom. Several cars and other items of interest, such as satellite phones, were also stolen.

By yesterday morning the rebels had left the town and are said to be making their way to N’Djamena, only passing through towns with no intention of holding them. The government has kept cell phone communication down in the few places in the East where it reaches, mostly as a precaution to prevent the rebel groups from communicating.

We have not heard word from Bouba and our driver, but believe them to be safe. We hope to see him today or tomorrow, and with the tent panels and other luggage that we had sent to Goz Beida ahead of us. In the end, these panels will have a longer story than expected, with this being the third time their location is unknown! But, as one friend pointed out to us, rented cars are not a target since more than likely they are owned by one relative or another of someone involved in the robbery.

For now the i-ACT team is safe in Abeche. UNHCR has resumed normal flights to all camps, except for N’Djamena. Where we wait for word on whether the rebels will take their last chance to overthrow President Idriss Deby before the heavy rains begin. Until then, we rest easy in the fitness center.

KTJ

We had cell phone service early in the morning but the signal went dead well before noon. Our friend and translator, Bouba, has been in Goz Beida since Friday, going up with our car, supplies, and extra luggage, to supposedly meet us there when we flew in. Of course, we have not been able to leave Abeche, due to the rebel activity in Goz Beida and other areas.

I spoke with Bouba yesterday morning. He sounded a little more serious than his usual “no problem.” The rebels were inside of town and fighting it out with government forces as we spoke. I could hear, barely through the bad cell reception, the crackling of gunfire. He said he would stay safe, and we would talk later. In the afternoon, I spoke with Bouba again. He sounded calmer but still not the Bouba we know. “I am fine, “ he said and then, after pausing for a moment, added “For now.”

Today has been a quiet day here in Abeche, but it seems like the locals are preparing for some activity. Not having cell service, we had not been able to communicate with Youssouf, our fixer (guy that knows how to get things done here in town). However he did come and quickly dropped off water, bread, and cheese. He said, “I spoke with Bouba this morning. He said rebels left Goz Beida and are coming to Abeche.” He then asked if we are good and said goodnight (it was only 2:30pm here).

We are still in the UNHCR fitness room, just steps from their main compound. Suzanne, from UNHCR, has told us that, if anything happened, we can expect to hear from them, since they are very aware of our presence. We are in a good location. Around here, it is mostly humanitarian organizations’ compounds and no military or government buildings. I don’t expect fighting to come this way, but we are prepared to move quickly, if needed. The most probable move would be to the French base next to the airport.

Gabriel