Seeking Peace: Gesma’s Story
When Gesma's husband proposed to her, she was happy. She would move to Khartoum, far from the bullets that plagued the sky of Darfur every day. She would be safe.
"Unfortunately, the war followed me in Khartoum," begins Gesma. "I remembered the Ab-Shouk camp in North Darfur, where I lived through my childhood -- the suffering and tragedy that my family went through when the crisis began in Darfur."
For the second time in her life, the young woman — pregnant with twins, her two older children in tow — had been forced to flee violence and conflict, facing a harrowing journey to Sennar, a city on the Blue Nile, once the capital of the Funj Kingdom.
In April 2023, intense conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces erupted, pushing Sudan to the brink. The repercussions of war have been devastating, claiming thousands of lives, displacing multitudes, and ravaging vital infrastructures across the nation. As the conflict rages on, Sennar State has emerged as a meeting point for internally displaced persons -- and yet, the situation there is equally alarming.
Basic necessities like food, clean water, and healthcare are in critically short supply, exacerbating the suffering of people who are internally displaced and host communities alike. Access to clean water has been severely compromised due to the lack of maintenance for crucial pipelines, forcing households to resort to unsafe drinking water sources and risking waterborne diseases.
Life in the makeshift camps, once intended for training midwives, has become a stark reality for Gesma and others like her. With inadequate shelter and amenities, she found herself in Sennar battling illness and uncertainty.
When Islamic Relief arrived to inspect the conditions of people who were internally displaced in the Sennar settlement, Gesma's five-year-old son appeared and asked if they might assist his sick mother.
"All we are hoping for is health" Gesma told Islamic Relief. "a drink of clean water, a piece of bread for the children, and a sleeping mattress."
With support from the Government of Canada through the Humanitarian Coalition, Islamic Relief's cash grant brought tangible relief to Gesma and other displaced families, offering health-care services and cash assistance to vulnerable families. Gesma used part of the cash assistance to purchase supplies in preparation for the birth of her twins.
"I am thankful for the health care I received in a small, modest room inside the camp," says Gesma. "It came at the right time, it made me and my children happy. It helped me with my childbirth. I thank all those who contributed to the assistance."
As she faces the challenges of living in Sennar, Gesma has used part of the cash assistance she received to establish a joint income-generating project with three other women in the settlement, making and selling falafel and sugar cane. The income is low, she says, but with the money she makes, she can support her young family.
Meanwhile, the birth of Gesma's twins—Watan and Salam, which mean "homeland" and "peace" in Arabic—has brought joy and light to Sennar and offered hope that Sudan's children will not have to grow up far from home.