Fighting in the Belo Region (July 2008)

by Feye Tolla (Child Dev Program Manager FH/E)

Food for the Hungry/Ethiopia has peen operating child development project in Belo Jeganfoy District since April 2000 and integrating community development project in Sasiga since June 2004. Both districts are situated at the adjacent border regions of Benishangul Gumuz and Oromia Regional States with potential border conflict due to unclear demarcation and claim for more land.

A terrible conflict took place on May 17, 2008 around a place called Shenkora, where hundreds of people were killed since the villagers were not ready either to defend them selves or flee the onslaught. Similarly, Oromia and Gumuz villages - including Belo Central were severely destroyed; as a result of the attack and the counter attacks that took place subsequently.

Consequently, the following took place:
• Hundreds of people were dead including children
• Thousands of people including children were displaced and became homeless. More than 5000 people including children were displaced and settled in different villages.
Huts, houses, grain stores, schools were burnt.
• No cookings utensils, extra clothes or enough food to feed themselves and their children. • Grains and farm tools were robbed and people are crying for farm tools.
• Schools, government offices, businesses, social activities were closed
• Both Sasiga and Belo Jegenfoy project staff members had evacuated till peace prevails in the area.

This girl has a saddest story. She was standing under an old tree with her mother and watching what we are doing with other community members. One of our team members approached her and asked her why she wore black dress. She responded that her father was shot dead 20 meters away from their house while trying to escape and his corpse stayed for three days on the ground and buried just in front of where we were discussing. She said that “now I am fatherless and seeing his grave everyday”. What a disastrous situation! We could not control our emotion and start asking ourselves what we can do to heal such heart!

Yet the process of reconciliation is well progressing. Both community members of Gumuz and Oromo were reconciled and start sharing the same market. In the process of reconciliation three oxen and four lambs were cut. They feast together and main leaders from both communities shake hand with the blood. Besides, they broke a bone. The breaking as one of the leaders explained indicates that anyone who comes either from Oromo or Gumuz to attack the other must be broken like the bone. This indicates that peace prevails in the area. Leaders also confidently informed us that the security situation is reliable.

Needs:

• Constantly praying and training to inculcate the lasting peace and reconciliation in both communities.
• The security situation is reliable and we decided to pursue project operation by the week of July 7, 2008.
• The consequence of the conflict is severe and there is a call to respond for the rehabilitation activities before pursuing regular development activities.
• Deploy all the project staff to the Belo Project Base Camp for counselling and training, prayer and relationship building for at least one week. Move to the villages in group rather than letting social workers stay in the community for at least one month. This will create an opportunity to mentor and train project social workers.
• Critical needs of community rehabilitation include farm implements, household utensils for cooking, clothing, Mosquito nets and food aids. Strengthening local schools with seats would also be critical rehabilitation task to make school ready for the next academic year to be started at the beginning of October 2008.

Emergency Relief Project
The main targets of the emergency response is people living in both border villages of Belo Jeganfoy and Sasiga districts regions who were displaced and are in desperate need of immediate assistance to survive. This then calls for indispensable emergency assistance response. The total affected population requiring assistance is estimated to be more than 5000 persons. A total of 300 families (150 families from both districts) which are most affected will be directly benefiting from the emergency response.

We have identified that the displaced people are in need of the following immediate assistances: Food items, Cooking Utensils, Water Containers, and Blanket and extra clothing.

Timeline: Now
Cost: $10000 ($33 per family helped)