Displaced people volunteering for each other
The dust is unrelenting in Qayarrah camp.
60 km south of Mosul there is a cluster of camps housing hundreds of thousands of people where a year and a half ago there was only empty space. And the dust blows and blows coating the thousands of tents and everyone in them.
Durra walks through the camp with her scarf pulled up over her mouth as an improvised mask, taking it off only to speak with people in her tent block. She is a member of a UNICEF-supported water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) committee, funded by the US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, which is composed of volunteers from within the camp who serve as a link between the community and the Danish Refugee Council — UNICEF’s partner working in Qayyarah Airstrip Camp for displaced people.
When Durra first heard about the WASH committees, she was the first in line to volunteer. “I nominated myself for the committee. I work with people on water, sanitation and hygiene issues.” She and other volunteers in the camp monitor the cleanliness of facilities, report technical issues as the arise, and are also able to do basic repairs themselves.
The WASH committees depend on volunteers, and focus on engaging women so that women’s issues are heard. The WASH committee was closely involved in the installation of privacy screens in front of women’s latrines so they could select the design that suited them best.
A mother of six, she uses the committee as a way to take control of her situation and to help those around her. “People need many things. Like, water, for example. Sometimes there’s a shortage and we can help with that,” she says.
She was displaced from a rural village near the city of Kirkuk, and has little formal education. Rather than being an obstacle, Durra uses her background as a way to connect with people and change minds. “I’m doing this job to prove myself and to show everyone that just because I don’t have a formal education doesn’t mean I can’t work. I work hard and I know people.”
WASH committees are also responsible for sharing hygiene awareness and water conservation messages to those in their plot of twenty tents.
“We participated in the training and address people’s problems and help people to work together to solve problems. We also explain about hygiene and sanitation and how to keep clean and prevent illnesses.”
Ultimately, the WASH committees are a way to strengthen communities so they will be able to maintain the facilities beyond the mandate of humanitarian intervention.
“This is important for their children and also for themselves because they will not stay in the camps for the rest of their lives. We’ve been in this camp for almost a year — do you think there are many of us who haven’t heard these awareness raising sessions?”
UNICEF is supporting WASH activities, including the provision of water and sanitation services, hygiene promotion in camps for the more than 3 million people who remain displaced across the country.
Jennifer Sparks is a Communications Consultant with UNICEF Iraq.
