Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation caused by the armed conflict of April 15, 2023 between the ruling army and paramilitary forces across Sudan, in particular in the capital Khartoum and in Darfur, both public and private schools were destroyed and public institutions went out of service. The increasingly tense geopolitical instability in the Darfur region makes it impossible to guarantee the safety of children when implementing activities. More than 450,000 people fled the fighting in Sudan and sought refuge in eastern Chad, which is why the DURMONGAA association resumed its activities with the same population in the refugee camps of the host country.

DURMONGAA is a non-profit association, founded in 2023 under Law 1901, with the aim of improving life through the schooling of children from the Darfur region in Sudan and eastern Chad who became orphans and displaced by armed conflicts. These children carry with them complex stories whose multiple causes have and will have a significant impact on their lives. The intense and ongoing armed conflicts in Darfur since 2003 prevent them from receiving education under good conditions: they push out those who have the opportunity to start schooling and prevent those who wish to do so. **

It has now been 11 months since Sudanese people took refuge in the eastern region of Chad, and there are no educational activities in these three new camps (Aboutangy, Ourang and Metché in the Adré region in eastern Chad) given the situation on the ground and the recent humanitarian crisis that affected the population of the Darfur region since April 15, 2023.

According to field priorities, we had committed to humanitarian aid. Despite the difficulties, we decided to take care of the educational part, and we started from primary needs, namely emergency intervention to provide relief. We trained 30 young refugees aged 18, and 2 local residents, in first aid in Ourang refugee camp: 16 girls and 16 boys, a total of 32 for the first aid training. In parallel, 70 orphaned children benefit from the language insertion program, 40 girls and 30 boys, a total of 102 children!



IMAGE capture: Saad Eltinay, from the photographic series "Alive and eternally rising”, Feb 2021–Dec 2022, photography, 30x45 cm, courtesy: artist.



Language program:

The objective of this association is to enable their social reintegration by implementing educational, cultural and sporting activities, notably through language insertion. It initially focuses on children aged 10, as this age group is the average age of life in displacement camps in Darfur and refugee camps in eastern Chad. The association implements pedagogical activities for learning French, English and Massalit while providing school supplies (notebooks, pens, pencils, backpacks, rulers, registration fees, meals, school uniforms, etc.). All these actions contribute to social inclusion through various cultural activities and lift children out of illiteracy. Our project aims to help them become autonomous and achieve their dreams by promoting academic success in their schooling and providing conditions for sustainable professional integration.

The language insertion we implement is a language learning program in which each child receives six hours of language classes per week during their school holidays—French, English and Massalit—for a period of three months.

At the end of this, school enrollment is possible; 70 children currently benefit from it. Our courses began on February 1, 2024 for a trimester, 3 days per week with 4 hours per day, 40 girls and 30 boys.

They attend classes in a small room that we built on January 20, 2024. An English instructor has committed for the moment, because French and Massalit are on hold due to lack of budgetary means. Our structure is the first to have started learning activities in this new camp, and there is very strong demand: all the children of the camp came to us to join our program.



More than 500 children are currently on the waiting list to join the classes as soon as possible; we are simply missing:

- Human resources: Teachers; we must recruit two instructors for French and Massalit and a project officer

- Material resources: Notebooks, pens for the learners, markers for artistic activities, chairs so that students can sit







First aid training;

The armed conflict has been present for 21 years, notably causing a lack of doctors and hospital services, and when a village is attacked, wounded people die, suffering from their injuries. The population itself is often illiterate, which explains the lack of knowledge about medical treatment or resuscitation in case of emergency. We chose to train these people so that they are able to handle situations when needed. First aid training is intended for vulnerable people in the region affected by the armed conflict, notably local residents who cannot easily access care in case of emergency because there is no hospital near their villages.

In partnership with Derjeal Medicale Organisation, we can carry out our activities on site. We conducted this training from January 10 to January 30, 2024. Our trainers are professional volunteer health workers and are very motivated to continue.

We accompanied the young refugees aged 18: they are 16 girls and 16 boys, gender equality among participants being one of our core values. This activity took place in the Ourang camp in eastern Chad, a camp composed of 30 neighborhoods, to avoid misunderstanding about participant selection.

The first part was carried out over 3 weeks at 14 hours per week, i.e. 42 hours in total, 17 hours theoretical and 25 hours practical. An individual assessment is carried out for each participant to ensure their level of learning, in order to validate the competency to intervene in case of emergency. To maintain connections between alumni, we created a referenced group so they can continue exchanging among themselves and remain in contact with us in case of need for intervention.

The community and beneficiaries strongly recommend our actions and 150 young people are on the waiting list to benefit from the first aid training, because our organization is the first to set up this type of action and was very warmly received by the inhabitants. We wish to launch the second cohort on June 1, 2024.



Here is what we need to ensure the continuity of our missions:

- First aid materials: tourniquets, bandages, wound dressings, disinfectants, medical cotton, etc.

- Means of transportation for our staff: to rent a vehicle

- Build three large classrooms in three different camps to host first aid trainees and other artistic activities.

- Mattresses, writing boards, notebooks, markers, pens, pencils, etc.

- Food during training days