Gedaref: A friendly Space to Children

By :Abdul-Aziz Ali Omer

From an errand boy for the education ministry, I knew that the ministry was going to hold a press conference to announce the Basic Education Exams Certificate Scores and grades of elementary school children . I took my seat near small eyes that radiated with happiness in confidence. The first students from Khartoum in Gedaref drew standing ovations. The jubilant audience included the public and Gedaref Governor who remarked ” These children from Khartoum by achieving impressive successes imparted to us a lesson on the management of crises” We hope also be beneficial to the members of democratic bloc in administration of transitional period. The best words to describe the suffering of these children and families can be found in ” Dark Shores”, a novel written by Daniel L. Jansen :” All of them were rising above conditions that no human being could be expected to endure. And they were betrayed time and time again, by the stupidity, the incompetence and the indifference of politicians , and petty officials. It is worth noting that the Gedaref education ministry directed the school boards to host children to enable them attend exams far from the shots and shells in Khartoum and Darfur. The Gedaref municipality through its executive director delivered a crucial assistance to families hosting other families affected by the ominous war.
Khartoum itself adopted a communal initiative known as a ” Nutritional need” to donate food to its besieged suburbs . I believe such an indigenous food relief is important as the food shortage increased the infants and children mortality.
From the conference room, my concern with children blight has led me to displaced shelter – a boarding house- outside children amiably played the football game. Then, the rain came, sudden but gentle and soothing for the comfort of wounded and injured. The same children from the mud made tanks and planes . On other side of the refuge, a little girl danced in the arms of her mother at the beats of an army band music in a display on TV screen. . Women and children anxiously clustered around TV to get news of their districts. There is an artillery bombardment in Bahri, and violent confrontation in Omdurman.. The young girl continued jumping in a spontaneous dance with appreciative laughs from all. “She was born in the police hospital where I saw her there smiling for the first time” her mother said. Mrs Amal has other older girls. She complained that they were incontinent and I proposed utilizing diapers or ” Hafaz”. Fayeza, one of her youngest girls beamed and said ” Pampers” are used by smallest kids, and there is not a single one that can fit our sizes.. How charming is Fayeza! She is a twin of that young girl whom I observed grinning through the window of bus in an emergency evacuation process. She brandished her doll which was the only thing salvaged from her personal relics. I thought of the optimistic poem of Babikir Awad Alkarim , one of the anti-war activists ;” Tomorrow, a wound will be healed and the elegant butterflies will come” .
From somewhere near the displaced people haven, a dog barked violently . In a contemplative calm in retrospect, my annoyance from the dog bark mingled with my irritation from the incurring abuses against children in conflict. Someone noting my disturbance from the dog howling . , He joked saying it would have been a better relief if the dog were given sleeping pills. Everyone laughed. I wished if the mass murderers and rapists could not have woken so the frail cities can sleep well. A few days later, I saw a queue of children coming out of AlGadeema Secondary School that accommodate displaced persons. They were carrying bags inscribed on ” UNICEF!” and walking on the tarmac side as quick as the rhythm of a whistle of a referee who led them to Deim Al Noor primary school. . There, I read their time table for each week entitled ” A friendly space to children ” which involved Arabic, food education, sport, arts and psychiatric counseling to provide a psychological support… Adam Ebrahim, one of the participants in a UNCIEF funded workshop on education in situations of emergencies spoke to the Citizen. ” There children here were vulnerable to stress. We are here through sports and arts to help them embrace their fears” he said.
I thanked him and then moved to the next office of the headmaster of hosting school. I worked with him last year so he greeted me warmly . ” Haven’t you noticed any difference ” he asked . With a smile, he followed my glance landing on the new addition in his office furniture. There were a new steel desk, a swiveling chair and a green rug. He said that he would retire and take his leave in October. I asked him about what was going on and he shrugged his shoulder. Insisting on him to tell me something, he showed a sealed letter from the education ministry asking him to devote one of his school classrooms to teaching English on holiday, I departed the school zone after saying goodbye to one another and expressing our mutual desire to contribute to an inspiring, positive and caring environment which school children deserve. PS: with Leonard Cohen, when will my school children sing :” Everybody knows the war is over. Everybody knows the good guys lost!”