Sudan War Relief
WHAT IS GOING ON IN SUDAN & WHAT ARE WE DOING?
Hello, I am Juanita Rea, the leader of Design For Change Sudan. Sudan was my home from 2018 - 2020 when I was a school teacher and wellbeing volunteer at Khartoum International Community School (www.kics.org) which is when I initiated Design For Change (DFC) Sudan to empower youth leadership.
The onslaught of daily hardship in Sudan broke my heart open. Political oppression. Environmental degradation. Poverty. Rape of natural resources by despots and international ‘investors.’ Roads that become rivers when it rains. Shops with intermittent supplies. Petrol queues that people sit in for hours. Power cuts. Rising costs of bread. Military rule.
Yet in all my time in Sudan, I did not meet a single violent Sudanese person. Instead, the Sudanese are the most peaceful and resilient people who are holding on to hope for a peaceful, democratic, prosperous Sudan to emerge from this fight for power between two warlords and fuelled by warmongers.
After weeks of exposure to unprecedented violence that has been destroying their city and feeling rising fear as bombs and missiles got closer to their homes, every single one of my former colleagues and students have been displaced. My friends fled their homes with the clothes on their backs and with what their arms could hold. Some made it out with the sound of bombs still echoing and some still need help to get to safety.
In 2019, I wrote a song, ‘Home, a song for Sudan’ after the Khartoum massacre of 118 civilians and the rape of 70 unarmed peaceful protestors.
DOWNLOAD LYRICS with Arabic translations by Marina George and Hiba Altaher Mohamed
It has been released on Bandcamp alongside a fundraising campaign on Givengain to:
- Evacuate members of our DFC Sudan community
- Support others who I know of (through my friends) to get to safety
- Provide mental health activities for displaced people to aid the trauma release, self-compassion, and healing needed when rebuilding their lives
Two of our DFC Sudan freelancers who fled Khartoum need support. Ayman Mohammed is a freelance videographer/graphic designer stuck in a village en route to Ethiopia and Marina George is a teacher rebuilding her life in Cairo. They have directly empowered Sudanese youth from 2019 - 2021 to lead community projects addressing environmental and social issues. My friends at my former school know of others who need help to get to safety. Ayman and Marina, while needing to address personal difficulties, are both eager to work to offer online and onsite mental health support for displaced youth and families.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
We offer many ways for people all over the world to offer support. All proceeds (less transaction fees) go directly to support our DFC Sudan (and wider) community get to safety and to provide mental health support for displaced youth and families.
Donate amounts greater than £2 on Givengain
Attend a Benefit Concert in Belfast
Host a Benefit Concert in your city
Transfer directly to our South African Non Profit Bank Account:
Bank Name: First National Bank
Account Name: eduSOIL Education NPC
Account Number: 62518926582
Type of Account: Cheque/Current
Branch: Davenport; Branch Code: 220226
Reference: Sudan+ Your name
If you have any queries write to us at dfc@edusoil.com