August Flooding

Above, Sudanese Red Crescent workers assessing flood damage.  Title photo, the upheaval and destruction flooding brings to already struggling communities. AlJazeera News 

“On the main road, outside Wad Ramli, piles of sodden furniture are strewn about as homeless families shelter in dozens of makeshift tents.”

“My entire home is destroyed. I have lived all my life in this village and I have never seen a flood like this one before. “I’m struggling to recognize my house and trying to identify it, as some others have done, by the trees around it.” Sudan Villagers reel from Nile Water Floods

This is a literacy post for Women’s Education Partnership

Projects Update – Background 

BBC News, quoting  Sudan’s official state news agency, reports that torrential rains and floods have killed 62 people in Sudan.

The country has been battered by heavy rains since early July, affecting 200,000 people across 15 states.  The UN estimates more than 37,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged while more flash floods are expected.  The rainy season continues until the end of October. BBC News Floods in Sudan

Lack of clean drinking water and the spread of water-borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera present grave health risks for those who have already suffered the trauma of losing their homes and precarious livelihoods.  Stagnant water becomes a breeding ground for mosquitos carrying malaria – one of the biggest killers of children in Africa. 

Coping against all the odds – interviews with those affected (English):

While floods are an annual occurrence in Sudan, they are becoming increasingly unpredictable as are other extreme weather events. Read more about the impact of climate change on Sudan in Heat and Dust.

Read more about relief efforts in International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent

Update on our Projects

We support elementary schools and their poorest pupils, many of whom are orphans. This work meshes with and complements our literacy program and eye care support carried out in the same desperately poor districts. See Elementary Schools Support

Watch a video interview with our director Neimat talking about The rural schools we support

The  women and girls we serve are among the most vulnerable of Khartoum and the recent extreme flooding has hit them hardest.  We are receiving regular updates from our staff on the ground and are acting to support those affected as effectively as we can over the coming weeks.  See coming posts for more detailed updates very soon.

Throughout the recent crisis, our staff have remained in constant contact with the schools and literacy circles we support, offering help and advice while overcoming considerable difficulties themselves in travelling to work. 

Photo – Aljazeera 

Our coordinator, Mrs Adila Abdel Rahman, writes: 

In Dar Es-Salam, the headmistress reported that one classroom was near collapse, with water pouring in through the roofs of two other rooms. Stagnant water has collected in the school yard, threatening to destroy surrounding walls and classrooms. Our coordinator reports  “The school guard did his best to drain the water but the threat remains as the school ground is below street level. They need to fill the yard with sand so as to level it with the street.”  Other elementary schools we support are suffering from a chronic shortage of safe drinking water. 

She continues:

The headmaster of Mandela School reported that his school is OK but “very fragile”.  His own house, however, had been destroyed and he is living in the school for the time being.

“Hassan Ibn Thabit School was seriously affected with the walls on the west side of the building completely destroyed and water was pouring through the roofs of four classrooms. The first year classroom was also on the point of collapse.”

Our coordinator explains that our literacy circles have also been affected by the flooding:

“At Wad Bashir the facilitator reported that one side of the room had caved in and three of our participants there had lost their homes through flooding.   And in Jebel Aulia cracks in the walls had caused the roof to cave in and is on the point of collapse.”

See coming posts for more detailed updates very soon.

If you would like to learn more about our educational and humanitarian work, please visit  Women’s Education Partnership