Hassan Adam is a 45 year old male living in Abu Kershola locality in South Kordofan with his wife and 6 children, 3 girls and 3 boys. Abu Kershola has a total population of 59,169. Hassan and his family were originally settled in Abu Ketera, in South Kordofan, however their village was attacked as a result of conicts, forcing them to move. “They came in from the south with their guns, shooting at everyone, they destroyed the agriculture college, and they raided our homes and took everything.” Hassan’s village, Hai al Magharib, was one of the rst villages to get hit during the conict and he and his family ed, leaving behind all their belongings. Mercy Corps Scotland (MCS) appealed to IOM’s Rapid Respond Fund (RRF) program to meet the critical, life-saving needs of newly displaced people in Abu Kershola. IOM manages the RRF, which is a USAID/OFDA funded mechanism designed specically to rapidly respond to the most urgent needs of vulnerable, newly displaced people (whether displaced by conict or natural disaster). MCS project ran from 1st January 2015 to 31st March 2015, and provided clean and hygienic water and sanitation facilities for vulnerable families like Hassan’s. The project rehabilitated 21 damaged hand pumps previously unusable, chlorinated 171 water sources to ensure safe drinking water, and upgraded 52 basic hand-dug wells by building higher sides and adding a safety cover, preventing contamination. A total of 92 emergency latrines were constructed and 4 new hand pumps were further installed.In addition, hygiene promotion was central to the project, educating communities on how to improve their health through improving hygiene and sanitation behaviors. The Rapid Response Fund also provided over 1,000 water collection containers as the existing containers were found to be unhygienic and contaminated. Access to water sources in Abu Kershola was very limited and remained a constant struggle for the people of Abu Kershola. Hassan and his family used to wait in queues for 1 ½ to 2 hours daily in order to collect water. He tells us of how over-crowded the area was and how long queues were. Limited water meant they were restricted to lling one container at a time, and then having to rejoin the queue again for another 2 hours to rell. Often this water was taken from contaminated wells. Hassan’s tone immediately elevates as he tells us he can now nd water instantly and does not have to queue for hours. “Now when I and my kids go to collect water, we do not have to stand and wait in the sun for such a long time.” Construction of higher surrounding walls and safety covers or ‘well coverings’ was a key component of this project. The well coverings not only reduce the risk of water contamination through litter falling into the open well, but more importantly, provide safety for families in the area, as there were many reports of young children falling into the open wells. Prior to this project, clean water and hygiene facilities were also a major problem and Hassan talks of how the children in the village were regularly sick with diarrhea and typhoid, as well as other waterborne diseases. He pauses, and with his speech becoming increasingly dicult, he struggles to inform us that his 2 year old daughter recently passed away. “The water was very dirty before, it used to make us sick again and again, and we do not have doctors or hospitals here to help. My daughter she became sick.” He continues to tell us that before the Rapid Response Funds arrived, no-one reached them to provide any help and they were struggling daily to survive. Now, not only do they have numerous clean water points and newly built hygienic latrines, but they have also received training on chlorination of water and formed a community group, with both men and women, in charge of maintaining all water points and ensuring hygiene and sanitation quality remains high. “The people of Abu Kershola thank God for this work, and thank MCS, IOM and USAID for the support. No one noticed us before.

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