As clashes continue to claim lives in Sudan, with no hopes of possible truce between the two warring generals, there is a whole grassroots network of people, tirelessly helping those caught in the crossfire.
“Anyone know a family in need of foodstuffs within the borders of Omdurman al-Thawrat,” a dental student in the capital, Khartoum said. The message goes on to give out a number, saying foodstuffs available to those, who needs them.
Khartoum has a population of around 10 million people and for nearly a week they have had no water or electricity, most hunkering down inside their rooms, away from windows in case of incoming fire. Most of the city’s hospitals are closed and more than 300 civilians have perished.
To get any supplies, people must go outside to find a shop that has reopened and has some stock of items. There are accounts of a dreadful smells, now coming from the decomposed bodies that litter the streets.
Social media groups are offering help to those who find themselves without food or medication, or giving information about safe routes to leave the city. Most of these messages that comes with plea for help, are accompanied by the hashtag #NoToWar.
“Currently, we have 750 food baskets available. One basket is enough for a family of six people,” another Khartoum social media handler tweeted. Others have been gathering invaluable information, about where water could probably be available in the city.
The message comes with an address and phone number listed as one of five places in Omdurman that reads “anyone who needs water, our house is open for them 24 hours.” Someone else placed out a message with a photo of insulin pens available, along with a phone number.
Orphans At Risk
Moreover, much of this devotion is championed by young volunteers operating at a local neighborhood level. They are called “resistance committees.” There are thousands of them across the country. They have been the backbone of a pro-democracy movement that rose up, following the overthrow of autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019, calling for a return to full civilian rule.
The “resistance committees” played a keen role in organizing peaceful protests against the military junta. Last Sunday, the coordinating body of Khartoum’s resistance committees sent out a message to “revolutionaries in the neighborhoods,” asking them to prepare to help fellow residents.
They were asked to develop a “medical rooms to deal with possible injuries,” to monitor food supplies” and “raise the slogan #NoToWar.” “The only ones to lose from war are the people, so let us unite to overcome that,” the message said.
Charity group like Hadhreen, which reads in Arabic as “We are present and ready to help,” has also been instrumental in trying to organize help for those in need. When Nazim Sirag, heads of Hadhreen, heard about more than 300 terrified children at an orphanage in Khartoum in need of food, water and medicine, he said “We can’t provide milk for new-born babies, everyone is afraid.”
Mr Sirag has been instrumental since the 2021 coup, connecting with Sudanese doctors’ unions in the diaspora, as he sought to get medical help abroad for some of those injured in pro-democracy protests. These diaspora medics have long been key to helping Sudan’s perilous health system over years of economic decline.
Sudanese Diaspora Raise Funds For Khartoum Doctors
Mohamed Hamadto, a trauma surgeon and President of Sudanese Doctors Union in the UK, disclosed that, his group has prepared training initiatives, the outbreak of violence last Saturday, have made them raised funds for the main Sudanese Doctors Union in Khartoum, and collecting supplies they hope to fly in when the situation permits.
“Everything is closed. There’s zero point in sending money to our family,” Ahmed Abdel-Elrazig, a student at the University of Toronto said, in a social media post.
“Right now it’s the holy month of Ramadan. I was on a call to one of my cousins and they broke my heart. They told me that even after they broke their fast they still were hungry because they were rationing food.”
“We’re trying to do our best to hit our goal right now to raise $10,000, so all injured civilians do have the medical attention that they do require. We’re currently partnered with the Sudanese Doctors Union,” he says. “This is the bare minimum that we can do, I still feel extremely helpless.”
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