The people of Sudan are suffering. Millions of men, women and children have been forced to escape. There are mass killings and atrocities against civilians.
Anita, Huda, Romia and Sakina live in Yorkshire. They’ve created the Salsabil Community Association to try and raise awareness and help others.
“Our war is missing [from the news]. No one knows that we are suffering,” says Romia.
Sakina agrees – “they don’t know about the war… We’re trying to make people aware.”
It’s very tough.. even if there’s no going back home right now, we are still strong.
“It’s very tough,” says Anita. “We have three or four more Sudanese people who just arrived as refugees a few days ago. It’s emotional for them, we hope to show them that we’re here, and even if there’s no going back home right now, we are still strong.”
“Unfortunately there’s a lack of support for Sudanese women who come here, from a completely different country,” Sakina explains. “They can be a bit lost, so we give them support, we try to be with them.”
Huda says “I’m meeting with another Sudanese woman, on Friday, to help them, to show them about life in Britain, and show them around,” she says. “Today we have war. As women we need to talk. People are very traumatised.”
Huda and Romia: "We help each other."
“We would like people to understand more about Sudan, and we hope to show them who we are – from all different regions, the different cultures of Sudan,” says Anita. “We meet, bring our kids, and show them our traditions. We talk about back home.” They share traditional ways of serving food or coffee, and of celebrating. “We are all Sudanese refugee women, from all parts of Sudan, from North, South, East and West,” she adds.
What we’re going through is big and awful. Even if it’s just a word of support, it can change a lot in your day.
Finding safety is only a first step – many refugees struggle with worry for the people they left behind, and the homeland they have lost. “Our message is please – we need your support. Even in the UK, you’re still suffering,” Romia says.
“What we’re going through is big and awful. Even if it’s just a word of support, it can change a lot in your day,” says Sakina.
“In our country there’s a war, a lot of bad things are happening. People think that refugees are coming here to take something – and they think that we don’t understand anything, because we can’t speak English. But we’re learning, and we can also have value,” says Anita.
Anita is a teaching assistant, and Huda hopes to become a midwife.
The members of the group are working hard to contribute to their new communities. Anita is a teaching assistant. Huda would like to become a midwife. Romia hopes to become an interpreter, and Sakina is in the final year of a degree in Biomedical Science.
The Refugee Council helped them find their feet and has given them a place to meet and help to set up the group. “I want to say thank you very much to the Refugee Council. When we arrived here, they supported us to know the place, to be part of the community, to help our children attend school, and how to improve our English,” says Romia.
“Without you, I really don’t know how we and our children would have managed. God Bless you,” adds Anita.
The Salsabil Community Organisation has been set up with help from the Community Development Team at the Refugee Council. If you would like to support our work, please consider making a donation today. You can help transform our communities for the better.
