The humanitarian embrace

Serge Bakor Lambey was in the middle of repairing a broken pipe when he noticed children had gathered to watch him and his colleague. A boy pointed at him and told his older brother that when he grew up, he wanted to be like Serge.

“I asked him to be patient,” Serge recalls, “and in only a few years, he could be like me.” 

Serge is a water and sanitation supervisor in Adré camp, Chad, where Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF) is responding to the needs of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the war in neighboring Sudan. New people are continually arriving, but living conditions remain dire. Most people remain in makeshift shelters and their most basic needs, particularly access to safe water, are not fully met. MSF has worked in the camp for more than a year, rehabilitating boreholes, installing latrines, and distributing filters, yet due to aid gaps, water access is limited to about 2.5 gallons per person per day—which is only half of the humanitarian standard. 

In addition to his critical work securing water and sanitation in the camp, Serge is also a poet who draws inspiration from his humanitarian work. Here, he describes his daily work providing clean drinking water and maintaining sanitary facilities for refugees—and the role of poetry in his life.

Why is water and sanitation important in Adré?

The provision of water and sanitation services is essential for the health and daily lives of every human being. In Adré camp, we need water for drinking and cooking. We also need showers and latrines for personal and environmental hygiene. Water and sanitation play a critical role in people’s health. If there are weaknesses in this area, the medical team will have their work cut out for them.

Some people I met in the camp told me that they had to drink unsanitary water during their journey before they arrived at Adré camp. This includes water from handdug wells, rainwater, and stagnant water.

When I started working at MSF in late 2023, the sanitation project was in its emergency phase, meaning that we had a pretty intense pace of activities. The project only transitioned to regular operations in February 2025.

Why can’t people just turn on a tap?

The town of Adré does not have a centralized municipal water source. Residents of the city get water from people who have built boreholes and wells in the city. Water can also be bought for around 500 Central African francs ($0.80) for about 132 gallons. Life has become very expensive in Adré; the arrival of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) has created a population boom, with thousands of people coming to fill necessary jobs, increasing the demand for water, as well as its price.

The influx of refugees has actually been beneficial for the people living around the camps. Thanks to the boreholes installed in the camps, nearby communities have also gained access to good quality water free of charge. However, people far from the camps and those in the city center still have difficulty finding enough good quality water.

MSF’s water and sanitation team works to provide drinkable water free of pathogens or diseases like malaria, cholera, typhoid fever, and hepatitis E.

What does your day-to-day look like? 

My team and I provide support to the medical team at the clinic and manage the sanitation aspects of the camp. At the clinic, we produce chlorinated water for patients and staff and manage sanitary disposal of medical waste and wastewater produced within the clinic. We also provide support for hygiene and infection prevention by setting up washing areas, showers, latrines, and water distribution points. 

At the camp, we build blocks of latrines and assess them monthly to determine whether we should empty them or decommission them and build a new one somewhere else. We also distribute hygiene kits (containing a bucket, soap, detergent, squeegee, brush, and a pair of gloves) to people so they can properly maintain the latrines. We often receive requests related to sanitation. The community is asking for more latrines and bathrooms, hygiene kits for maintenance, and frequent and rapid emptying of latrines.

What is the dynamic with the Chadian host communities around Adré? 

I must highlight the hospitality of the people of the city of Adré. When the first Sudanese refugees arrived, a large part of the community came out to welcome them. The mobilization was very strong. It was the people of Adré who brought all kinds of resources—such as food, clothing, and sheets—to assist the refugees before humanitarian organizations arrived.

Working in the camp, I am very close to the refugees. What surprised me and continues to surprise me is the smile that these people manage to keep despite their situation. When I try to put myself in their shoes, I realize that you must be courageous to keep your morale high and, above all, to have a smile on your lips.

If we want to support displaced people, we will have to start with compassion and acceptance. Governments can help through political and diplomatic agreements that will promote the integration and safe relocation of displaced people. They should also be able to encourage NGOs to operate on their territory to provide assistance to people.

In addition to being a sanitation manager, you are also a poet. How do you find inspiration from your work?

My work influences my poems. Previously, I had never written about humanitarian work, but I started writing about it when I started working with MSF in the camp. Now, I plan to publish a collection of poems solely on humanitarianism, as soon as I have the opportunity. My poems also influence my work. Poetry is like psychotherapy for me, because it allows me to empty myself of all my emotions and stress. I write down everything I feel, and afterwards I feel great.