My first month in Khartoum

It has been a month since I have arrived Khartoum-Sudan, time flies. There are many things that I realized, felt and learnt from my stay here, and I would like to share it with you.

The weather is so hot here, even I arrived in the end of the summer (End of August), it is still very hot compared with Gaza and Washington D.C. I feel I was very lucky that I arrived at the end of the raining season; it gets a mess when it rains. Dust is everywhere; you feel you need to take a shower whenever you leave home.

Booming is taking off in Khartoum and life is super expensive. To me, it is more expensive than Washington D.C.

I have settled-down after I found a place to stay, I live in a three bed-room apartment, I live in the 8th floor, which has a lovely view over the city. I live just next to the airport, where I enjoy the taking-off and landing of the airplanes. I found a difficulty to find an apartment, because there is no ‘craigslist’ where I can find an apartment. In order to find a place to stay, you have to depend on a broker, who shows you dirty houses, and then he asks for one month rent.

About my job, actually I like it; I am doing team management, financial management, writing proposals and contacting donors. I also participated in the UN 2008 work plan for Sudan, which is interesting. I attend meeting with other international organizations about procedures need to be taken as a response for different circumstances.















My office is quite big; it is in the downtown and not far from the state castle. There are three people in Khartoum office; me, my boss who is British, and another administrative assistance who is Sudanese. We have a team of about 20 people based in Darfur, and they are divided into research and production teams. The nature of our work is broadcasting educational radio programs for Darfur people, we discuss issues based on the needs of the people such as nutrition, flood preparedness, safety, livelihood, malaria, cholera and water and sanitation. We also have drama programs for children. Each program is designed based on a messaging brief which has detailed information about the topic we are discussing.

I have involved smoothly in the work. I started the first two weeks learning, and listening, with little involvement in decision making or giving instruction. In the later weeks I found myself involved in the actual work. I try to guide the team in Darfur little by little, because I don’t want them to feel that I am coming to make a change in the way they work. I am trying to set an administrative system, which will facilitate our work. My boss is very happy that I joined the team, because she trusted my knowledge and experience of how to do thing ( related to our work), and she is delegating me with more tasks.

















NGOs do not work freely in Sudan, because there are so many restrictions from the government. They chase everything NGOs are doing in Sudan. You need to get a visa to get into the country, you need a visa to leave the country, you need to get a visa to get out of Khartou, and you need a permission to go to Darfur. Getting a registration for any NGO is a headache in Sudan, you face severe bureaucracy, procrastination and delays in all treatments. Oppps, you also need a permission to take photos, even in the streets, markets or where ever. Of course, journalist can never get a visa to go to Darfur, and it is so hard for a journalist to get a visa to Sudan in general.

People in Sudan are very laid-back, and they don’t have great value for time. Sudanese people are generous and very kind as well.

In the morning, you find many people sitting on small chairs in the main streets drinking tea and/or reading news papers. The main meal is the breakfast, which is usually between 10.00 am and noon. The majority of the people have beans with cheese and eggs (fool) for breakfast.

Sudanese people are deeply religious; when it is a time for prayer you see a group of people get together and pray in the street, in the office…everywhere. You can hardly see any girl without a scarf. You are not allowed to bring any kind of alcohol with you to the country, if it is found in your luggage in the airport, it might cause some troubles to you, because the government considers it as an Islamic state.
















Identity is an issue in Sudan, because you can’t identify the Sudanese whether they are Arabs or Africans. Actually it depends on the location. People in the North identify themselves as Arabs, while people in the south identify themselves as Africans.
Nancy is a Sudanese Christian, who is the first Christian I met. Nancy works as a broker, and she is helping us finding a new place for our office. Nancy says that Sudanese do not identify her as 100% Sudanese, because her ancestors were Egyptians. When she goes to Egypt, Egyptians identify her as pure Sudanese. Sudanese hate Egyptians, because Egypt occupied Sudan in (1821-1885), and Sudanese still feel Egyptians as colonizers.
Whenever I am asked about my nationality, they look to me in a suspicious way, thinking I am Egyptian, and when I say that I am Palestinian, then their language, way of looking and attitude change positively, and I feel warm welcoming.

Darfur is an absent issue, people here, at least in Khartoum, hardly talk about Darfur, you can never hear anything about the war in the local T.V or radio. I think the International community is more concern about Darfur issue than the Sudanese themselves.

It is the first week of Ramadn here, and I feel it is real fasting here, where you experience patience. You can learn patience in Sudan in Ramadan because it is hot.