Ramadan in Gedaref

By: Abdul Aziz Ali Omer

I first met Ustaz Angus Darymple Smith during a brief spell which he spent as a volunteer English lecturer at the Education Faculty of the University of Gedaref..

The college  wall magazine published his description of Ramadan in Gedaref.    Here is what he wrote:  “Breakfast takes place around 6:00 announced via Azzan .Everyone in the neighborhood brings out large mats to breakfast together in the street. However, men and women eat separately and more often women are left at home on their own while men sit together.

You always start by eating a date and move onto the rest of feast. This includes a thick dough like substance made of sorghum called Assida  or thick pancakes called Gurrasaa covered with local sauce called Weka.

There is usually a couple of different salad, yoghurt, for a drink there is Abri, I can describe it as sweet and nonalcoholic. We usually had a selection of fruit juices and a number of other sweet concoctions.

After the meal everyone get up to pray. The Sudanese are devout and very happy for you to watch and observe their religious practices. I never felt I was unwelcome any time during the month. After the breakfast, every one heads to the Suq which is always packed during this time. Every one spends the evening chatting, drinking innumerable cups of coffee and tea and smoking lots of cigarettes.

It has been fantastic:. I have made a lot of friends and having visited so many homes, I have a much better idea as to how people live. Ramadan is a wonderful time of the year, especially in Gedaref where you will enjoy the best of Sudanese hospitality and kindness.