Christopher Farber

Photography: I'm Not Where I'm Supposed To Be

"I'm Not Where I'm Supposed To Be" is an ongoing portrait project covering human displacement in the Sudan, Central African Republic, and Chad.

Despite the enormous physical size of Central and East Africa, overlapping issues and actors have resulted in the forceable movement of millions of people, sometimes for decades. Each person has to flee, ending up in refugee camps, the bush, or the outskirts of cities squatting with extended family members in overextended homes and burdened economies. Paid work is scarce, as is access to food, clean water, sanitation and health care. The result is a holding pattern, a perptual state of non-progress where basic subsistence takes up most of a days work, and the accumulation of wealth, formerly cattle and arable land, is impossible. Social economic systems crumble, and with them gone, expectations for the future disappear.

A Darfurian refugee, living in Gaga refugee camp in eastern Chad, raises falcons, which he hopes to sell to Libyan merchants passing through Chad. Darfur is probably the most publicized humanitarian disaster today. However, little has been achieved to end a genocide that has created millions of displaced people. Many of them live in refugee camps along the Chadian border with the Sudan, relying almost exclusively on the international community for food, water, and health care.
  
A teacher at a grammar school in Gaga refugee camp, eastern Chad.Darfur is probably the most publicized humanitarian disaster today. However, little has been achieved to end a genocide that has created millions of displaced people. Many of them live in refugee camps along the Chadian border with the Sudan, relying almost exclusively on the international community for food, water, and health care.
  
In spring 2007, a military wing of the army of the Central African Republic, known as the Presidential Guard, torched and destroyed the homes of tens of thousands of people, forcing them deep into the bush, where they live today and are afraid of further aggression if they return. Paoua, in northwestern Central African Republic, is a remote region of one of Africa's poorest countries. Close to the Chadian border, the region around Paoua is an active rebel territory. In an effort to destabilize the rebel foundation, government forces turned on the civilian population.
     
  
Darfur is probably the most publicized humanitarian disaster today. However, little has been achieved to end a genocide that has created millions of displaced people. Many of them live in refugee camps along the Chadian border with the Sudan, relying almost exclusively on the international community for food, water, and health care. Tribal leadership retains some of its influence, but the general order of society is almost completely disrupted because life in the camps is so inherently different from life in Darfur.
   
Southern Sudan is beginning to rehabilitate after two decades of brutal civil war. Part of this process is the repatriation of the millions of refugees, who are finally coming home. However, their homes and land from before the war have since been occupied by squatters who fled violence in other parts of the country. These squatters, like the Moru tribe, have been settled since the 1980's in the southern capital , Juba, and now that the original land-owners are returning, a scarcity of land due to inflation and massive landmining has left them with few options.
   
Chefs du village (village chiefs), retain their role as leaders, despite having had their villages destroyed and their normal lives thrown into perpetual struggle. In spring 2007, a military wing of the army of the Central African Republic, known as the Presidential Guard, torched and destroyed the homes of tens of thousands of people, forcing them deep into the bush, where they live today and are afraid of further aggression if they return. Paoua, in northwestern Central African Republic, is a remote region of one of Africa's poorest countries. Close to the Chadian border, the region around Paoua is an active rebel territory. In an effort to destabilize the rebel foundation, government forces turned on the civilian population.
     
  
Displacement has irreversable effects on cultural continuity because hundreds of thousands of children are born in refugee camps, the bush, and squatter settlements. As the Darfur genocide enters its sixth year, an entire generation is being raised in their community's new realities of life somewhere other than home. But for these children, displacement is the only home they know.Darfur is probably the most publicized humanitarian disaster today. However, little has been achieved to end a genocide that has created millions of displaced people. Many of them live in refugee camps along the Chadian border with the Sudan, relying almost exclusively on the international community for food, water, and health care.
   
Health care is often inaccessible or non-existent for displaced populations. Local medical practitioners are sometimes trained by international organizations to provide medical care to people living in the bush.In spring 2007, a military wing of the army of the Central African Republic, known as the Presidential Guard, torched and destroyed the homes of tens of thousands of people, forcing them deep into the bush, where they live today and are afraid of further aggression if they return. Paoua, in northwestern Central African Republic, is a remote region of one of Africa's poorest countries. Close to the Chadian border, the region around Paoua is an active rebel territory. In an effort to destabilize the rebel foundation, government forces turned on the civilian population.
  
Survival in northwestern Central African Republic is not easy or simple, even in peaceful times. However, fleeing to the bush adds an overwhelming number of obstacles. Bore holes that pump water are no longer accessible. Herds of live stock may have been killed, stolen, or simply starve to death without grazing land. Cultivated land is lost, and farming must begin again in forested areas. Sorghum grain, provided by the World Food Program, is pounded into flour, and cooked into a porridge.In spring 2007, a military wing of the army of the Central African Republic, known as the Presidential Guard, torched and destroyed the homes of tens of thousands of people, forcing them deep into the bush, where they live today and are afraid of further aggression if they return. Paoua, in northwestern Central African Republic, is a remote region of one of Africa's poorest countries. Close to the Chadian border, the region around Paoua is an active rebel territory. In an effort to destabilize the rebel foundation, government forces turned on the civilian population.
     
  
As herds of cattle and goats dwindle, and crop yields are inconsistent, small game, such as birds and rats, become important dietary supplements.In spring 2007, a military wing of the army of the Central African Republic, known as the Presidential Guard, torched and destroyed the homes of tens of thousands of people, forcing them deep into the bush, where they live today and are afraid of further aggression if they return. Paoua, in northwestern Central African Republic, is a remote region of one of Africa's poorest countries. Close to the Chadian border, the region around Paoua is an active rebel territory. In an effort to destabilize the rebel foundation, government forces turned on the civilian population.