TRAVEL | SUDAN | AFRICA | CURRENT EVENTS

Our Hearts Hurt For Sudan and the Friends We Made There

Innocent lives are the victims of these uprisings.

I’m sure many have heard of the terrible course of events that have rocked Sudan in the past week. Two different armies are fighting each other in the streets of Khartoum. Over 500 people have died, and the fighting seems nowhere near an end.

Our hearts have been heavy with this news since the start of these events back in October 2021. But now, it seems that everything has gotten so much worse.

I won’t pretend that I understand the political intricacies of what exactly is happening and why, but I do know that the victims of these uprisings are innocent people that just happen to find themselves living in these countries where peace seems like a far-off distant dream.

We spent three months in Sudan earlier in 2021. Three very peaceful months. To get there, we took a bus from Aswan, Egypt to the capital city of Khartoum.

Of course, we were a bit cautious about heading into Sudan, but we felt at that time that it was our best option. We had just spent three stressful weeks in Egypt, and we were desperate just to get out. Continuing to head south was the most uncomplicated option at the time.

We did research online to see if it was safe to travel in Sudan. While doing so, we learned that Sudan had enjoyed a democratic government since their long-running dictator had been jailed in 2019. Other travelers had written of their experiences and they had good things to say about it.

After weighing the risks, we took some deep breaths, then headed south.

We had no idea what to expect, and no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but after a bit of a rocky start, we enjoyed 3 wonderful months amongst the Sudanese and their beautiful culture.

When people ask us what our favorite country is, we have to say that Sudan is high on our list. It does have some beautiful scenery, but the landscape isn’t what gets it a spot on our list, it is the people.

In fact, the Sudanese might just be the friendliest and most hospitable people on the planet.

We spent about 10 days around the capital city of Khartoum to initially get our bearings in the country. Everything was very foreign, and we had to take some time to adjust to our new surroundings. Thankfully we had met Jamal when we were in Egypt, and he made good on his promise that if we contacted him when we arrived, he would show us around.

This was our first introduction to the hospitality of the Sudanese. Jamal helped us get our SIM cards so we could have a phone number, he took us for coffee along the Nile River, and he took us out to dinner with his friends. Despite our desperate attempts to try and pay for everything we consumed, he simply would not allow us. He told us that because we are visitors to his country, it would be shameful to make us pay for anything.

We felt terrible, but what could we do?

Jamal was truly a blessing when we arrived and once we realized how friendly all the people were, we felt compelled to leave and explore other parts of the country.

We had our sights set on Port Sudan, a coastal city that lies alongside the Red Sea. We knew that it would be less hectic than the capital city, and longed to be beside a large body of water again.

We were amazed at the beauty of the sea which was in stark contrast to the mostly brown, Sudanese landscape.

It didn’t take long to find some friends in Port Sudan. Just one or two days after we arrived, we sat down at a small coffee stand on the corner. These ‘coffee stands’ are usually just comprised of a woman and an open fire, with a couple of kettles, plus an assortment of teas and coffees to make.

They are mostly frequented by the men who will sit in these spots for hours during the day, and they are literally on every corner of the country. They are impermanent structures, so people can move them to where they need to at any time, but most stick to one location and their clientele is predictable and constant.

To have 2 foreigners sit at their stand is quite the occasion.

Obviously, this was never our intent, but quite often when we would go to pay for our coffees (which were about 30 cents), they had already been paid for by a Sudanese man that had already left. In other scenarios, somebody who spoke English would approach us to chat with us, inevitably insisting on paying for our coffees before we did. No matter how hard we tried to sneak money to the barista, it was refused.

This brings me back to the group of friends that we made during those first days in Port Sudan.

Two of the men in the above photo actually had kids living in Toronto, Canada, so we could tell that we were dealing with some very influential men in the region. We started asking them if they knew of an apartment that we could rent in the city, and they jumped up and started phoning people straight away. They helped us find a place, plus picked us up with their truck to take us there to see it. One man took us out on a boat ride on the Red Sea and also took us to immigration and introduced us to the customs agent who would extend our visas when we needed to.

Their kindness and hospitality was above bar.

One day I thanked Mohammed again for all that they had done for us and his response was, “Ah, it’s okay. Canadians are helping my family in Canada as well.” In this culture, they truly believe that you get what you give.

But why are they getting all of this hardship, when they are such giving people? It really hurts my brain to try and figure that one out.

Because we were making YouTube videos of our time in Sudan, plus posting regularly on Instagram, we were approached by a few young men that wanted to get together with us to learn more about Canada and practice their English. Of course, we were ecstatic at this opportunity.

We met them on a few different days at a coffee stand along an inlet and enjoyed our interactions with them immensely.

These guys were so excited because they finally felt that Sudan was moving towards a more peaceful future. They were enjoying the freedom that democracy brought and had started Instagram pages and were working on tourism websites. They had hopes and dreams that tourism was finally going to come to Sudan.

Our hearts hurt the most for these young guys that finally felt like their future had the potential to be great, likely the first Sudanese generation of young people who felt this way.

Now all is dashed, what will they do now?

We rented an apartment for around $110/month in a far-off neighborhood surrounded by locals. During one of the frequent power blackouts we experienced, we headed out into the street to get some fresh air and sit on the curb until the power came back on. One of our neighbors approached us and started asking us questions in his broken English.

He told us that he was keen to practice English and wanted to introduce us to some other friends that also wanted to do the same. One of his friends had a car so we all piled in it one day and went on an adventure.

They took us to a music festival that was happening down on the beach, plus we drove around and stopped for coffee. We had such a wonderful day with them and loved gaining even more insight into their culture.

They too were looking forward to a peaceful and prosperous future. It saddens us to know that their hopes and dreams are probably shattered at this point.

Fatima, the young lady in the above photo, invited me to her sister's house one day so I could hang out with her mother and sisters, and get a glimpse at their culture’s traditions. Because her dad was out of town, no men were allowed in the house, so Chris had to stay home.

It was such an incredible cultural exchange and I had so much fun at one point in the afternoon when they dressed me in their traditional clothing.

I had such a great day and was so thankful for the experience.

A note on covering my head:

While I did choose to cover my head with a scarf on certain occasions while in Sudan, I was told by all locals that we met that it wasn’t necessary. People in this part of the world don’t judge each other for their beliefs, and most understand that women covering their heads is not done in all parts of the world. We didn’t encounter anyone who thought that it was necessary for me to cover my head while in Sudan. We also saw many local women in Sudan that didn’t cover their heads either. It seemed to be a tradition that was starting to loosen its grip.

We truly could not have felt safer or more at peace when we were amongst the Sudanese. These beautiful and innocent people are the victims in these situations that are dictated by such a small percentage of humanity. Sadly that small percent also has all the guns, so you know how that goes.

I will never understand why we are so lucky and why we had the privilege to grow up in a country like Canada. The more we see of the world, the more we realize how lucky we are. Even now, Canada is where we sit, and to think of bombs going off and smoke rising in the air outside our doors is a thought so silly, it simply vanishes from our brain.

But it doesn’t for our friends in Sudan.

Thankfully we have spoken with one friend in Port Sudan, and he says it is calm and peaceful there. It seems that all the fighting is going on in Khartoum these days.

But I have also messaged Jamal and other friends there to see how they are doing. One of them left me a voice message on WhatsApp:

We are okay. We are in the house. We do have a good amount of food and water. We fixed the generator because it was broken and it is working fine, I think, I hope. Anyhow, we are home. Tired, bored, worried, tense, but everything is good. Thank you for checking in.

Right now there are bombs and gunfire going on outside his house in Khartoum. The airport is closed, and nobody can leave even if they want to.

Even during this scary event, they remain hopeful and have the ability to say that ‘everything is good’.

Of course, we feel powerless in situations like these. These aren’t the only friends we have made in our travels that are going through hardship and strife in their day-to-day lives.

But we do know that we can not solve all of the world's problems.

However, as I have said before in my other writing, I think these issues need to be talked about. We need to spread messages such as this one. A message that the Sudanese are not to blame for the hardships that come down on them simply because they were unlucky enough to be born there.

Innocent people have no choice but to bow to whoever is dictating and controlling their lives in each moment. It’s hard to not feel sad for all of the people involved.

Especially for our friends, who were so excited and had immense optimism and hope for the future just a couple of years ago.

I clearly don’t have any answers and have no way to solve the problems that our friends are facing in Sudan. We, simple citizens, don’t have the power to do much. But we do have a voice. Through sharing our experiences, I hope to bridge gaps and diminish misunderstandings about other cultures.

My dream is for a planet of equality. Where all humans can feel free to live their lives to the best of their abilities. It seems like a pipe dream, I know.

But if we imagine it, it will eventually come.

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