Hope through songs for Sudan refugees seeking refuge in South Sudan

“War can displace people whether we like it or not, but we must be safe,” says 24-year-old Zainab Alzaki, her face etched with grief.

Zainab once lived a comfortable life in Khartoum, the bustling capital city of Sudan, with her husband and two sons. Her immediate relatives also reside in the heart of the city, where they all share close bonds through regular family gatherings.

Her husband Mohammed, owned a popular chicken restaurant while Zainab focused on raising their two children at home. Her sons loved attending school to get an education and her eldest son enjoyed playing sports with his friends. All of this changed on the 15th of April, 2023, when the civil war in Sudan broke out.

Zainab’s personal experience with the raging war began on the 15th of April. The fighting between rival armed factions started in the capital city of Khartoum, Zainab and her family were in the epicenter of all the bloodshed. 

“Our house was in the middle of the city and everything started there. When it started, people fought against each other with guns and bombs, and I saw people dying outside my home and in the neighborhood. It was very hard and distressing to see people losing their lives,” expresses Zainab.

Months into the war, Zainab found out she was pregnant. She was worried about having to lose her child from all the emotional turmoil of the fighting in Khartoum. At night time, the family slept under their beds for their security

“Every night for fifteen minutes, we heard jet fighters fly overhead and drop bombs. For our safety, we continued to sleep under our beds because we were afraid of what might happen” recalls Zeinab 

Faced with an impossible choice, Zainab had to make the tough decision of leaving her husband and eldest child behind, she escaped to neighboring South Sudan. Zainab had little choice but to escape to live another day, leaving Khartoum behind.

For Zainab and her youngest son, Renk was their destination. “Traveling was very difficult; I was pregnant and could not run. Fortunately, a vehicle helped some of the way by giving me a lift. I owe a lot to them,” says Zainab who arrived in Renk safely after a two-day journey. 

In Renk, the plan was to now wait for her husband and eldest child “I lost my mind a little because I had left my family there in Sudan.

My neighbors in Renk helped settle my mind with songs and stories and told me that my husband would be okay.” In one month’s, time, her husband and eldest son joined her and in her second month at Renk, she delivered her baby at the transit center.

Zainab is very grateful to Oxfam, who has gifted her family items. Oxfam provides clean water and bathroom facilities at the transit center in Renk for all refugees or returnees in waiting.

Oxfam, together with partners, has provided clean water and proper sanitation to over 90,000 people in the transit camps, but urgently needs $7 million to ramp up its operations and reach 400,000 people with lifesaving food, clean water and sanitation. 

“I am very happy that Oxfam is helping me. After months, this is the first time I have received any services. I appreciate their help. We had no option but to come here to Renk. We thought the war would only last for a few months, but it is still ongoing.”

For Zainab’s family, the next destination is Maban, South Sudan, where the government is moving those displaced by the conflict. “I hope to go back home at some point and rebuild all we have left, but the war needs to stop,” Zainab says.

The war in Sudan began over one year ago when rival forces, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), clashed following rising tensions linked to a transition to civilian rule. Thousands are fleeing the country daily, seeking refuge from brutal violence, abuse, and limited access to humanitarian aid amid a looming famine.