Nangweshi mechanics repair a truck for one of the camp's volunteer feeding agencies.

There is an abundance of publicity on the camp. It's all designed to raise funds for the refugees—well, it's supposed to be designed to raise funds for the refugees. In fact, a large percentage ends up in the hands of the esteemed donor organizations. New vehicles arrive. Fancy satellite phones, with bills reaching into the thousands of dollars per month, are the norm. (UNHCR has a bad reputation for telephone abuse.) New trucks are bought to deliver the food and supplies, but these new trucks are totally unsuitable for this purpose. Corruption is rife.

Spare parts are hoarded and recycled to fix broken machinery.

There is a church within the camp. Two old pastors run this facility. The church has seven choirs and four thousand members in the congregation, but I am afraid there are very few bibles. There are no funds to purchase bibles. I wonder if the telephone bill was not so high if the money could have been spent on bibles perhaps? There would have been some change left behind if this was the case.

Nangweshi Camp's diesel generator.

The camp is littered with sad tales of children who have lost entire families. Amputees are the norm. Newborn babies die for lack of food. Their mothers have little or no milk. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is everywhere. Corruption is acceptable practice within certain organizations. Refugees each get a food card. Without this card their 4 kilos of maize for the month is withheld. Imagine all the corruption around these cards. Some of the donor organizations hold the attitude that their 'gifts' are in fact their personal property, and not that of the donors. This attitude results in refugees not receiving what is rightfully theirs.

Ever-present 'systems' of distribution actually hinder the distribution of food, goods, clothes and more. I agree, a system is required, but there is a limit. Sometimes the 'system' becomes the end objective! This results in food sitting in warehouses wasting, while people are starving. Once food arrives, it should be off-loaded, and distributed. Why leave it in warehouses for months on end? The rats and mice end up benefiting from this waste.

Wild animals are familiar sights near camp.

The one aspect of the camp that I was amazed at was the refugee propensity to love one another. I have never experienced so much love for another man before. No orphan is left outside. All orphans are taken into families. The blind are assisted. Children help amputees along. Their neighbors feed the catatonic. Everyone shares. Kids play together. No one fights with his neighbor. This takes place in a camp of desolation, but not despair. There is hope in this camp. Folk sing daily. Every day there is choir practice. The camp rings with the sounds of voices praising God. Men and children alike write poetry. The Spirit of the Lord is evident in the faces of the congregation. I was moved by the music, happiness and high hopes.

Copyright © Tim Edwards 2003