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SUDAN / EX-COMBATANTS
STORY: SUDAN / EX-COMBATANTS
TRT: 4:58
SOURCE: UNMIS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 31 MARCH – 2 APRIL 2011, MUGLAD, SUDAN
31 March 2011 MUGLAD, SUDAN
1. Wide shot, people working
2. Wide shot, people working
3. Med shot, men sifting soil
4. Close shot, a man working
5. Med shot, soil being filled into block making tool
6. Wide shot, men working
7. Close up shot, block tool being pressed
8. Wide shot people working
9. Med shot, Man carrying block
10. Wide shot, man showing blocks on the ground
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Issa Almhadi, project a participant:
“Yes I have participated in irregular battles. Later I have realized that the fighting is not fruitful. Then I have come to the city and have engaged in this project. So I have gained a lot of skills.”
12. Wide shot, men working
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdullah Alagbash, training officer, Youth Union of Abyei:
“These were combatants we told them to leave fighting and come for training here in this project. They should make use of their time to train other people after they finish.”
14. Med shot, participants working
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Engineer, Ali Ahmmad, a project supervisor:
“We build the capacity of people here so they can manufacture blocks out of soil and this is very successful. Both the trainees and the trainers have managed to manufacture very good blocks of high quality.”
16. Med shot, three men talking
17. Med shot, a man speaking
18. Close shot, two men’s faces
19. Close up shot, taking soil
20. Med shot, two men talking
21. Wide shot, people working
22. Med shot, workers spraying water
23. Wide low angle shot, two worker spraying water
24. Med shot, man working
25. Med shot, man turning blocks which are drying
26. Wide shot, blocks
27. Close shot, soil blocks
28. Med shot, guys standing near the project sign board
29. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Dr. Ibraheim Abd Algader, Alneelan University, College of Sciences:
“Our soil blocks will be stronger by the passing time not like another, because we have not burned the blocks only fixing it. We are also keeping clear of the environment, avoiding to make the area desert. The use of wood fuel uses trees and the land suffers. This is the same land which the people here depend for agriculture and for the cattle they care for we therefore need to keep our lands highly productive.”
30. Close up, men
31. Wide shot, worker entering gate
32. Wide shot, man coming beside wall
33. Wide shot, building workers
34. Med shot, two men speaking
02 April 2011, MUGLAD, SUDAN
35. Wide shot, workers at new building
36. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Issa Almhadi:
“I have come here to see the quality of the soil blocks and if there is anything else that needs to be improved so we are aware.”
37. Wide shot, out side new building gate
38. Close shot, brick makers
39. Mid shot, brick makers
40. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hamoda Bilal, project a participant:
“I expect really if we continue like this we will be very professional in making bricks in any case.”
31 March 2011 MUGLAD, SUDAN
41. Wide shot, man walking
42. Close shot, a man with a child
43. Med shot, a boy with two goats
44. Med shot, boy tying goat
45. Wide shot, child walking
46. Close shot, man with child
Tucked away in Muglad’s hot and dusty streets is a group of 20 ex-combatants who have been, for the last 25 days, learning how to manufacture building blocks to be used in the construction of houses.
As they sift the sands into fine and clear soil, and as the blocks pile up, their skills improve and the brick-makers get more engrossed in perfecting their newly learned ability.
The training, which aims to give the ex-combatants new opportunities as civilians, is part of a program being run by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This is the first of trainings in which former combatants are making building blocks. The training started on 15 March and is targeted at various youth who live in Muglad area.
Muglad, located in Abyei Area Administration, has been at the centre of an unresolved conflict and efforts to build peace within the community and neigbouring areas has become a priority for both the community, national and international developmental aid agencies working in the area.
Issa Almhadi, one of the participants in the project, said he fought in some battles but is glad to be part of this training.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Issa Almhadi, project a participant:
“Yes I have participated in irregular battles. Later I have realized that the fighting is not fruitful. Then I have come to the city and have engaged in this project. So I have gained a lot of skills.”
Issa and the rest of his colleagues have vowed not to return to the battle field. They say they want to be involved in peace building in their community. Abdullah Alagbash, a training officer of the Youth Union of Abyei, has been instrumental in the building blocks project.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdullah Alagbash, training officer, Youth Union of Abyei:
“These were combatants we told them to leave fighting and come for training here in this project. They should make use of their time to train other people after they finished.”
The blocks project is a collaborative effort between USAID and a Sudanese NGO, and has been successful at using readily available material, in this case local soil.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Engineer, Ali Ahmmad, a project supervisor:
“We build the capacity of people here so they can manufacture blocks out of soil and this is very successful. Both the trainees and the trainers have managed to manufacture very good blocks of high quality.”
The slow and meticulous process ensures its durability. When the blocks are finished, they are sold locally and residents and businesses have been able to use these blocks for some of their new constructions, which is easy to beautify.
Away from the block construction site, Issa Almhadi has managed to go to actual construction sites to conduct quality checks and he has been able to receive feedback about the quality of the blocks being used.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Issa Almhadi:
“I have come here to see the quality of the soil blocks quality and if there is any thing else that needs to be improved so we are aware.”
Among those who have also benefited from the project are Hamoda Bilal and his family. He hopes that this project will in one way help change the mentality of the people and communities it touches, and as a result promote peace and stability and the much needed income.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hamoda Bilal, project a participant:
“I expect really if we continue like this we will be very professional in making bricks in any case.”
As the ex-combatants continue with their training building blocks it is hoped that their new skills will make a difference in this area which has been plagued by constant conflict.
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