First Person

Photo story: Visit to Jamam refugee camp, South Sudan

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Oxfam’s Skye Wheeler returned recently from a trip to a camp in Jamam, South Sudan, where refugees from conflict in Sudan are living in harsh conditions.

Among many other challenges, the first year of independence has seen the influx of some 170,000 refugees into South Sudan.  Fleeing conflict in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan  and Blue Nile states, these refugees continue to face crisis upon arrival, including water and food shortages.

In the height of the dry season I visited Jamam camp in Upper Nile state (South Sudan), where Oxfam is struggling against a harsh and unyielding environment to provide water and sanitation for 32,000 of the refugees from Blue Nile.  There I found people living in extreme difficulty – hardship that has worsened since these pictures were taken, as the rains have arrived in this remote part of South Sudan. Few have the shelter they need to adequately cope with the rains that also turn the ground to thick mud and will likely flood part of the camp.

As well as trucking water to tap stands in the camp, Oxfam is building latrines and is working with both the refugee and host population of about 3,000 people to spread vital hygiene messages and raise awareness on how to identify, treat, and prevent the spread of waterborne diseases.  Oxfam is also stockpiling emergency supplies of water purification equipment, rehydration salts, and soap to help contain the spread of cholera if an outbreak happens. These refugees are entirely dependent on aid agencies. Oxfam delivers water and sanitation all over the world and conditions here are about as difficult as they get. (Read more about the Jamam camps and about Oxfam’s work in this emergency.)

  • Women set out to collect water

    Here is Jamam camp in Melut county of Upper Nile, South Sudan, which hosts some 32,000 refugees from Blue Nile in Sudan. The refugees that live here escaped the conflict between the government and the SPLA-N rebels that broke out September 1, 2011. Women and children spend a lot of time collecting water. These women on their way to the tap stands were really friendly to me and were laughing about something. There’s a sense of waiting in the camp that’s typical of refugee camps. There is no sign yet of the peace Blue Nile will need for these refugees to return home.

    Photo by Skye Wheeler.

  • Woman in a sun-bright tobe

    A woman in a brilliant yellow traditional ‘tobe’ cooks food outside her home far from home, a simple piece of emergency plastic sheeting made into a tent. Tobes are traditional Sudanese garb for women. The camp is a harsh environment but I really loved the bright colors of the women’s clothes.

    Photo by Skye Wheeler.

  • A fragile shelter

    Many refugees were only able to flee Blue Nile with what they were able to carry. Here’s a typical shelter. It’s made up of little more than a wooden frame, some plastic sheeting, and mosquito net. This photo was taken at the height of the dry season. Now the rains have started, its owner is likely one of many in the camp who have suffered exposure in the heavy downpours. He showed me what he did manage to bring: some cooking pots, and also three goats.

    Photo by Skye Wheeler.

  • A young refugee

    This child was sitting with her father and brothers and sisters when this picture was taken. Like many of the refugees in Jamam, she arrived last year. People have kept coming from Blue Nile, fleeing the ongoing conflict and growing food shortages there. The UN estimates there are currently around 110,000 refugees from this conflict in Upper Nile. In recent weeks some 35,000 more have arrived, putting intense pressure on already limited resources (this number may increase to 50,000). Humanitarian agencies have been struggling to cope with the growing camp population, especially in the face of the rains that have already arrived but will likely get more intense over the coming weeks. Roads will turn into mud slicks, making access and transport very difficult and everything much more expensive. The UN has already started flying supplies into Upper Nile.

    Photo by Skye Wheeler.

  • Twice displaced and preparing to move

    This family fled from their home in Blue Nile to another location they thought would be safer; they were then forced to flee aerial bombardment again. Besides making life harder for refugees living in very fragile shelters and making humanitarian work much more difficult, the rains will also flood Jamam Zero, the area of the camp where this family lives. This family will have to move.

    Photo by Skye Wheeler.

  • Water, but never enough

    Water is a massive problem in Jamam camp. Refugees are currently getting only 5 - 9 liters of water per person per day, far below the acceptable standards of 15 liters per person per day. This water has to be carefully managed and is only enough for cooking and drinking. In Oxfam surveys, refugees reported having to make hard decisions, such as whether to use water for cooking or bathing, a choice no one should have to make. Women I talked to also complained of having to make tough decisions over the little water they have and not being able to wash as often as they would have liked. Illness is common in the camp because of a lack of water. Because of this, Oxfam has been lobbying for at least 23,000 of the refugees to be moved to a new site to relieve pressure on water here in Jamam. But new refugees have continued to arrive from Blue Nile, and they have been given priority for space at newly developed sites.

    Photo by Skye Wheeler.

  • A careful rinse

    To get enough water, refugees have also been digging into the bottom of dried-out ponds that have been used to water animals, which poses a serious health risk. This girl is washing her feet after fetching water from one of these shallow wells. Oxfam is extremely concerned that the rains will bring cholera and other waterborne diseases to Jamam. If an outbreak does occur, 40 liters of safe, clean water per person is recommended to contain the spread of cholera within a family with a cholera patient. Given the limited water available, this is simply not possible .

    Photo by Skye Wheeler.

  • Waiting for water, hoping for peace

    Shortages of water mean that queues, like this one at a water point, are long. Fights break out frequently. One evening when I was in the camp, some 30 women who had been queuing had to go back without water: it had simply run out. The critical situation people are facing in the refugee camps is the human face of conflict. What these refugees need and deserve is for the conflict in Blue Nile to immediately end and long-term peace to be established, so they can go home in safety. Refugees in Jamam want to go home, but to do so they need the rebels and the government to make a lasting peace.

    Photo by Skye Wheeler.

 

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