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Hawa's story

"I like to sleep," explains Hawa, who lives in Darfur's Kalma camp but shares this particular interest with most other teenagers around the world. "But by 6am the first rays of the sun are coming through the holes in the wall of my family's shelter, the cockerels and donkeys start their shouting, and the camp starts to come to life."

Even without the noise and the light, Hawa wouldn't have much chance of a lie-in. There are, as she puts it, "so many chores!" She usually spends the first couple of hours of her day boiling water, washing clothes and cleaning pans.

"I don't enjoy cleaning and sometimes I'm tempted to do it very quickly," she says, "but Oxfam staff are always telling us to clean the pans thoroughly and I'm scared of getting sick if I don't!"

As more people arrive in already overcrowded camps and the queues for water get longer and longer, important tasks like this are taking up more time.

And as the security situation gets worse, it's also becoming more difficult for Oxfam and other agencies to work in the camps and provide and maintain vital water and sanitation facilities.

But Hawa does what she can to make the best of her situation. She worries that the camp has become more dangerous, and the queuing annoys her, but it does at least give her time for a gossip.

"Today I had to wait for more than an hour and it was very hot," she says, "but the other women have to wait too so I get to catch up on all the news while I'm waiting!"

Marriage and study

It's not unusual for a woman in Sudan to be married by the time she's 18. But when Hawa mentions men, it's to tell a story that sums up the reality of life in Darfur today.

"I'm not married yet," she says. "Insha'allah [God willing] I will be soon.

"But there are few men my age in the camp - most people here are women, old men and children. Many younger men are away fighting. Or dead.

"I don't know where many of the boys from my village are now."

Hawa lives with her mother, two brothers and two sisters. As well as helping out at home, she also enjoys the time she is able to spend studying.

"By 8am I'm on my way to the community centre," she says. "It's a short walk from my house and it's run by Oxfam.

"At the centre I take lessons in hygiene and English. I like the hygiene class because I can see how to make changes in our house that keep my brothers and sisters healthy."

Hawa isn't the only person benefiting from the lessons.

"Now whenever I see a woman not taking proper care of her latrine, or not cleaning her jerry can," she smiles, "I get very upset with her!"