War-weary Angolans become refugees in their own country

There is something highly symbolic about the way Arthur Chindandala earns his living. He beats large shiny bowls out of recycled World Food Programme oil canisters, which he then sells for 25 kwanzas (about 30p) each. And he shapes them on an anvil made out of an upturned shell case.

It's not exactly swords into ploughshares, but it's the modern-day equivalent. And it illustrates two great truths about Africa: the terrible toll war has taken on the continent and the spirit of vitality and inventiveness of Africans in their determination to forge new life from the ashes of battle.

Arthur lives in Caluapanda camp for internally displaced persons – the domestic equivalent of refugees – near Kuito in Angola. He sits in his open-air workshop surrounded by heaps of scraps of tin. He is able to make four large bowls each day, which gives him the wherewithal to look after his two children. His wife was killed in the war. To raise enough money to build a home will take a while, but he hopes to get there.

The war in Angola in effect ended in April, shortly after the death of the Unita rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, who was accused of perpetuating the war by breaching all agreements to end fighting between his rebels and forces loyal to the President, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. But while the fighting has ended, a humanitarian catastrophe is now unfolding as displaced Angolans, who had not known peace since independence from Portugal in 1975, return home to nothing.

Most of those crammed into camps get little help for survival. The United Nations estimates that approximately four million civilians, a third of the total population, are internally displaced. Some 445,000 former Unita soldiers are concentrated in areas around the country from where they will be resettled and reintegrated into civilian life. The UN estimates that almost one million displaced Angolans will have returned to their homes of origin on their own account by the end of this year. There are no resources to resettle them.

Just down the road from Arthur lives George Silviano. George recently tried to sell a gun he stripped from a dead rebel in the bush to raise money to rebuild his rural home. "I was advised that what I was trying to do in the new Angola was illegal and I surrendered the gun to government soldiers in this area," he told Oxfam staff. But the move left him with no other option to raise money.

An aid agency official said: "Many returnees are returning to areas which have not been made safe for their return, where there are no basic support services and where there is currently little access to food." Oxfam is sinking boreholes and building toilets for those returning to their communities with nothing to help them restart their lives.

This week, Oxfam staff visited the villages of Xandel and Calanda villages in Malanje province to help displaced people returning home. What they saw exemplified the magnitude of the crisis. After local people were forced out of their homes, their fields reverted to bush and their homes disintegrated. All they could do when they returned was build huts, which in most cases collapsed under the weight of heavy rains. Oxfam staff have supervised the design and building of of pit latrines but most of the four million displaced civilians are crammed in to the IDP centres with virtually no facilities.

Camp life remains particularly difficult. The land around is devoid of trees or bushes and women must walk for several miles each day for firewood. The nearest school is 50 miles away. Most people in the camp have no means or resources to go back to their villages.

Although indications are that peace in Angola has come to stay, many people remain doubtful and some are not confident of going back. "I want to stay here for now, because there is protection for me here. We're not sure whether the war has really stopped – we are still afraid," one woman said.

The irony of the Angolan tragedy is enormous. The country has great mineral riches and supplies more oil to the United States than does Kuwait. Much of its landscape is resplendent with greenery, wild coffee and gushing rivers. Yet more than 70 per cent of its people are starving. The crisis is man-made and the solutions required must be man-made too. Peace has certainly brought smiles to the faces of many war-weary Angolans. But it has also brought new challenges. With the help of agencies such as Oxfam, the people of Angola are beginning the long task of rebuilding their lives.