Washington, D.C.: The camps stunk of donkey dung and urine. It was the only smell in the hot, dry heat of Darfur that Robert Lankenau remembered. The clean, colorful clothes of the women stood in stark contrast to the corrugated tin roofs of the makeshift dwellings in the camp, providing a modicum of joy in the most desolate region of Sudan. For in this vast desert the size of France, punctuated by pockets of urban activity where camps for the internally displaced have sprung up, the 21st century’s first genocide is taking place.
After more than a year working in Darfur, however, Robert*, who is the Darfur Field Director for CHF International, has not lost faith in the work he and his fellow aid workers do. “I felt and still feel excited to be in Darfur and to try to implement solid relief interventions,” he told me via email as he made his way to neighboring Chad for an assessment of what appears to be an increasingly dire situation there. The 31-year old German citizen is no novice, however, having previously worked in Afghanistan and Egypt.
Darfur, the most hard-hit region in a country torn by war, famine, ethnic cleansing, repression and forcible displacement, is not a place for beginners. But it offers valuable experience to the more seasoned aid worker or those with career or appointment ambitions who want to get experience and check that box. The devastation facing Sudan is most severe in Darfur, where government-backed Janjaweed militias have engaged in massive ethnic cleansing that several organizations have labeled genocide. Although the whole of Sudan has been affected by the ongoing violence that broke out in 2003, the humanitarian crisis in Darfur is a primary focus for international aid and development groups because of the millions of internally displaced persons and the genocidal conditions in the more remote areas of the region.