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Even though the migrant crisis is no longer the major focus in the European and French press, millions of refugees and displaced people struggle to survive, far from their country, their home and family, in harsh or even undignified conditions. For this reason, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL launched in 2017 its call for donation “Dignity Kit”. These kits are distributed every day by our teams on the ground, in response to protracted conflicts, natural disasters or chronic crises.
SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL’s teams composing a dignity kit
© Paul Duke / SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL
Containing non-food items – soap, towels, pads, toothbrushes, toothpaste…- that have much more value than what we grant them, these dignity kits allow people to maintain a basic hygiene even after days, or weeks of walking far from their home. These kits can also include household insulating tools and cleaning items. This is how people like Narges, a Pakistani refugee in Afghanistan, Hanan, a displaced mother in Syria, or Hadiza in Mali, can address an essential need: preserving their dignity.
Displacement camps, disease outbreaks
For years in Syria, the Aleppo region has been the scene of violent fighting that has made thousands of victims, and pushed thousands of others far from their home. Unwelcome on the other side of the border with Turkey, they have to pile up in internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps where living conditions are disastrous. In this unhealthy environment where waterborne and respiratory diseases proliferate; winter, wind, cold, humidity…
It’s in these conditions that Hanan, 31 years old, her husband Zakariah who suffers from Hepatitis B, and their 3 kids live. The youngest is disabled, he doesn’t have the use of his legs. This family had to leave their comfortable life in their hometown to seek refuge in Yazibagh camp, next to the Turkish border. The lack of sanitary infrastructures like waste bins and toilets is alarming. “Our living conditions have become unbearable, tells Hanan, we share a shelter with two other families. We are sick and food prices keep increasing.”
SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL’s teams took action in the camp by building toilets and organizing its garbage collection to stop the proliferation of new infections. “There was a nauseous smell everywhere, but now we pay more attention to hygiene,” Hanan explains happily. The distribution of hygiene kits, more than ensuring families have decent hygiene, allows them to save money to provide for their food and medical needs.
In displaced people camps, conditions of living can be catastrophic
© Sandra Calligaro / SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL
Hygiene to cater for all needs
In another context, but with similar challenges: two years ago, Narges was a normal teenager in Miramshah, the main city of Warzistan, a Pakistani province bordering Afghanistan. As combats started between the army and the Taliban, she and her family had to leave the country and find refuge in Afghanistan, where people were already struggling in harsh living conditions.
Now aged 18, Narges lives in Gulan camp in the Afghan region (of) Khost. She participates in cash for work activities to provide for her family needs. “It’s good for our security and with the money we can buy food,” she explains. She also benefited from a distribution of dignity kits with hygiene items such as soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, but also clothes. In addition, distributions of cash and tools enabled them to build bathing facilities and toilets for groups of families who share a common shelter in the camp.
“To me, personal hygiene is very important. I was very happy to learn that it was important to wash hands before eating of after going to the toilets. As I work at home, I also learned how to stock water and protect it from contact with animals. Water is very important to us, because we can’t live without it. Our lives changed for the better these last two years.”
Hadiza, in theTimbuktu region of Mali. She lacks water and her kids suffer from malnutrition.
© Tiécoura N’Daou / SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL
When security and hygiene go together
On another continent, in Mali, issues are also linked to access to water and the lack of investment in basic services. These gaps are worsened by the conflict between the army and the Azawad separatists. Hadiza is one of the thousands of people suffering from this situation.
In the Timbuktu region, security and hygiene go together. If one is lacking, the other is unavoidably jeopardised. “When we don’t have water, we can’t wash our hands before cooking or after going to the bathroom” she tells about a daily life where her kids often get ill. Now that she received a hygiene kit, she can share with her family the precious good of soap. “We now realize how important hygiene is.”
In 2017, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL keeps providing drinking water, access to services and improving sanitary conditions for refugees around the world.