|
Fishermen
prepare for a trip out to
sea in Dungonab |
Red
Sea, June 2009 - “You
can always tell when you are getting
near the sea, says 50-year old Ali
Abu Ali. “The air feels different;
cooler against your skin.”
Ali and most of the
men in his village have been fishing
most of their lives. For them, fishing
is more than a job, it is a way
of life; a topic that finds its
way into almost every conversation
and an activity that sustains themselves
and their families.
For years in this poor,
rural region of Arbaat in Eastern
Sudan, the men had no proper equipment
to fish. They spent their days walking
to the shore of the Red Sea and
renting very small wooden boats
so that they could fish in the shallow
coastal waters.
“We would carry
the fish we caught slung over our
shoulders, and walk from the sea
back to the road, a distance of
about 3 km,” says Ali.
The men would then
wait by the side of the road for
a ride. Sometimes the fish would
spoil and they would return home
empty handed.
But today their hands
are full. In the bustling fish market
of Port Sudan, Ali and his cohorts
sit behind plentiful baskets of
fresh, varied fish caught deep in
the Red Sea.
They have just returned
from a week long fishing trip in
one of the three motorized fiberglass
boats provided by the Recovery
and Rehabilitation Programme
(RRP). Ali points to dozens of different
types of large, colorful fish on
display for local hotel and restaurant
owners to buy.
“These are fish
that can only be found in the deep
sea,” says Ali. “Before
the small wooden boats we rented
weren’t strong enough to travel
in the waves, but with the RRP boats
we are able to go out to sea for
days at a time”
And with the three
ice boxes also provided by the RRP,
the fishermen are now able to keep
the fish fresh for up to one week.
This means they can store the fish
until they are ready to sell at
the market, which is a great advantage,
explains Ohaj Ahmed Eimali, of SOS
Sahel-one of the RRP partners in
Red Sea.
The RRP is a five-year
initiative (2005-2010), including
four years of implementation. The
largest and most comprehensive recovery
programme in Sudan, the RRP is managed
by UNDP on behalf of the Government
of National Unity and the Government
of Southern Sudan with funding of
€ 55.8 million; € 49.75
million of which comes from the
European Commission, and €
1.5 million from the Government
of Norway. A total of 44 national
and international NGOs are working
together in 10 locations across
the country (Blue Nile, Abyei, River
Nile, Red Sea, South Kordofan, Northern
Upper Nile, Central Equatoria, Eastern
Equatoria, Warrap and Northern Bahr
Al-Ghazal) concentrating on institutional
strengthening, improving livelihoods
and basic services.
In the Red Sea State;
the harsh desert climate and isolation
of many of its communities can make
projects difficult. But despite
the challenges faced these tight
knit communities have demonstrated
remarkable results. Part of the
Red Sea State consortium’s
success is because of the excellent
coordination at the community level.
Before the RRP began in this state,
communities had already formed the
Arbaat Development Association (ADA),
a local organization that intended
to address the region’s development
needs; but meetings and activities
were sporadic and poorly organized.
The Arbaat fishing
project is truly community-owned,
with 105 families benefiting from
just three boats. Here is how it
works: there are three groups of
35 fishermen; and each group has
one boat. Each group is split into
five smaller groups and these teams
have a rotating schedule for going
out to sea. Every time a group comes
back from sea, the fish are sold
at the local market and the profits
spilt between all 35 members.
“The boats and
boxes from the RRP changed so much
– Now we can travel three
to four hours out into the deep
sea to fish,” says 30-year
-old Serie Abu Ali. "We can
catch all kinds of fish that we
didn’t have access to in the
coastal waters. On a seven day trip
we can catch 800 kgs of fish and
then sell them for 8 SDG a kg,”
he explains as he skins fish on
the rocky seashore.
Ali and the other fishermen
will cook it over an open fire and
sleep on the beach before getting
up at the break of dawn to take
the boats out again.
It’s a simple
life; and requires a simple formula
for success: “We catch more
fish, we make more money,”
says Ali.
*
Jaime Jacques is the Communication
and Advocacy Officer of the Recovery
and Rehabilitation Programme - UNDP
Sudan