As evacuees continue to wait for permission to return to their homes, the Ahad Al-Masareha camp has developed from a mere refuge keeping displaced Jizani villagers alive to a site where authorities have also had to give though to how to keep them entertained. “We are working on three football pitches, several educational schemes, and a variety of contests,” Major Abdul Rahman Al-Bakri of the Civil Defense Protection Dept. told Al-Madina newspaper. “We are trying to keep minds off the fighting going on.” For three days last week Civil Defense – the Kingdom's fire and rescue authority – put on a theatrical production to “give evacuees a lift”. Speaking to Okaz newspaper, Jizan Civil Defense Commander Hashim Saiqal said other recreation schemes included a team playing “traditional games”. “We are trying to give the children something to smile about,” Saiqal said. “We've involved families in various activities, and we've been giving out prizes, games and toys to the kids.” Other improvements to living conditions include asphalting and outside lighting, and hundreds of scouts volunteering their services have assisted in setting up tents and providing food and water. “Approximately 300 scouts are doing voluntary work like handing out meals to evacuees and taking part in other activities, and we'll carry on working right through the Eid Al-Adha vacation,” Saudi Scouts Deputy Chairman Abdullah Al-Fahd told Okaz. Expansions to the camp, currently the only one in Jizan, continue in order to take on twice as many people, according to Saiqal. “Cash is still being disbursed to all evacuees at the camp and those being housed in furnished apartments around the region, and relief caravans are still arriving with food, clothes, tents and blankets,” Saiqal said.
