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| Trees for Tima FAR's new funding coordinator on his first visit to Southern Kordofan. In November last year I had the opportunity to visit FAR’s projects in Southern Kordofan. This was my first trip to this region of Sudan and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. We left Khartoum by bus to the sounds of the early-morning prayer call and reached Dilling in the late afternoon. FAR runs an office and guesthouse in Dilling to oversee the projects throughout the Nuba Mountains. After enjoying dinner with the staff, I turned in for an early night, knowing that the next day would be a tiring one. By the time I had finished my tea the next morning, the office was already a hive of activity, with staff preparing for the week’s events. FAR’s water and sanitation officer, Abdulmunim, was busy preparing the materials and staff to head to the village of Tima. FAR has received funding from the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) to build a tree nursery in the village, which will not only help with re-forestation but will also provide income-earning opportunities. By mid-morning, with two vehicles loaded with staff and supplies, we were ready to go.  The tarmac road quickly gave way to gravel once we were outside Dilling, and this gravel road quickly gave way to a dirt track. The journey took a couple of hours, but in the rainy season it is often double that, or sometimes impassable, cutting off communities for weeks at a time. These are the sorts of challenges with which nature presents the FAR Team. The rocky mountains and rolling fields felt like a great escape from the dust of khartoum, but they also seemed a long way from the rapidly- developing urban landscape and amenity-filled khartoum.When we arrived in Tima, the FAR staff quickly began setting up the nursery. Water engineers checked that the newly drilled borehole could provide enough water whilst local builders began to lay out the fence and buildings. We met with the village leaders over tea and snacks to hear their thoughts on the projects as well as the other challenges facing their communities. As work progressed on the nursery, we went to a nearby village to meet with some students who had recently been trained in metalwork skills by FAR. To help them build up their experience, the South Kordofan team offered them further work with FAR, above: a leafy FAR tree nursery in Julud. by helping with the nursery construction. Keen to put their skills to use, the former students agreed, and will be taken on by FAR to help erect the nursery. FAR has been working in Southern Kordofan since the 1990s and I was heartened to see the strong relationships between FAR and the communities. While 2011 is full of uncertainty, FAR’s work with the isolated communities in Southern Kordofan will continue to improve lives and bring new possibilities. |
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