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Stories From The Field

Maeve Murphy, UNHCR, Darfur, Sudan

Maeve Murphy, UNHCR, Darfur, Sudan

You work in Darfur, Sudan where more than 4.7 million people have been forced from their homes. What do you do?

I work as a Community Services Officer, visiting camps and villages to find out about the problems people face, working with partner agencies to improve basic facilities and making sure our programmes are targeting those most in need.

What is their most pressing need at the moment?

Security. There are many others of course, including water, health care, sanitation and education.

What's the hardest thing about your job?

Talking to people who have lost everything, whose families have been killed in front of them, and whose daily lives are full of hardship.

What has been your most rewarding experience?

There are many experiences which have left a big impression - seeing a child of twelve playing with a ball for the first time, working with women to set up women's centres that will provide what they themselves want them to provide - and seeing them come to fruition.

If there was anything you could do for people in Darfur, what would it be?

Give them hope that things will change and one day, when it is safe, help them return home and start rebuilding their lives.