Dreaming of home
Fatima’s displacement journey
It’s a beehive of activity at UNICEF’s supported Alshargia safe learning space or makanna in Kassala state. Makana which means my space in Arabic, offers a haven for children from displaced and host communities amidst the ongoing war. While schools remain closed UNICEF makanna spaces provide safety and a semblance of normalcy for some 600 children daily.
In one corner of the compound, 6-year-old Fatima, a displaced child from Khartoum, engages in skipping rope and swings with her peers. Despite the chaos of displacement, she finds joy in these activities, reminiscent of her life before the war. “My favorite activities at the makanna are skipping and the swing,” she shares with a smile.
Fatima and her family have been displaced twice with the last move from Gezira state in November 2023. Her brother Yassin recounts their harrowing journey, “our journey began in a cargo truck, and it was all very frightening. The buildings were completely broken, streets empty and my father was driving at high speed. The dust was rising heavily, and there were many rocks on the road. We went up and down in the truck. We were afraid of what was behind us, and my father couldn't hear us when we called him. We saw a crowd of people running away like us, and whenever we saw soldiers, they would shoot yellow bullets.”
Their lives have transitioned so much that Fatima says “I am beginning to forget how my home looked like. It has been long. But I remember we had red doors, red flowers in the garden, and my room was beautiful,” Fatima shares.
Fatima and her siblings have experienced a long journey of displacement, which may not come to an end soon. They have lived the harsh realities of displacement. From a big, beautiful house and bedroom that she shared with her sister Shahd to a bakery.
Faced with adversities around life while displaced, Fatima's family has transformed an old, abandoned local bakery into their new home that they rent for about US$249 a month, although the wooden logs, kneading utensils and pans remain visible. The bakery has two rooms – one where they sold bread and another where they baked.
Fatima can’t hold back tears when asked to describe her home in Khartoum which she dearly misses.
“Our house had a front yard with red flowers that bloomed under the trees where I played with my siblings.
“We used to go to the street in front of the house to play because it was safe,” she continues as she flashes a photograph of her beautiful room on her mother’s phone.
She is now aware that the streets of Khartoum are not as safe as they used to be.
“But the new home here is crowded with wooden pallets, and I don’t have a room.”
Rebuilding life at the UNICEF safe space
Fatima and her siblings – Yassin and Shahd, attend UNICEF’s safe learning space daily to play and learn. While their new home is very far away, their mother Nema ensures they attend and participate in the activities provided. Every morning before 10:00 a.m. the children arrive.
“I don’t want them to forget what they learnt while in school years ago,” she shares.
Worried about their future she is confident that at the safe learning space, her children are making new friends and being supported to navigate through the challenging times they find themselves in today.
“I want my children to learn in this child-friendly space and hoping this will help them in their recovery journey,” Nema adds.
As Fatima navigates the uncertainties of displacement, she holds onto hope for a return to Khartoum.
“When I close my eyes, I hope I am back in Khartoum when they open,” Fatima dreams.
Fatima is not alone in her yearning for a peaceful home, millions of children, both inside and outside Sudan, long for the same amidst the turmoil of war.
