Ramah lived in SOS Children’s Villages, Khartoum – Sudan’s capital city – before the Sudan war broke out and chased his family further and further from their home. Here, Ramah tells the story of his journey to safety.
My name is Ramah*, and I’m 12 years old. Life was normal that Saturday, like any other, as my family and I cleaned our house; our usual weekend routine. But everything changed when my older brother saw an armed group of people through the window of our house.
He rushed to tell my mum, who immediately called the village director to let him know what was happening [civil war in Sudan]. A few of the older children in our village stepped outside to see what was going on.
Suddenly, the terrifying sounds of gunshots and explosions filled the air.
The noise was so loud and scary that I ran to hide in my brother’s closet.
But I still didn’t feel safe, so I crawled under the bed, trying to escape the fear that surrounded me. I could hear the pounding of gunfire, and my heart raced. My mum and siblings were scared too. One of my siblings couldn’t stop crying. My mom held him tightly, trying to calm him down.
We were stuck in the village for what felt like forever. We couldn’t leave, and during that time, we lived on food and drinks from the fridge because it wasn’t safe for my mum to go to the kitchen to cook.
Eventually, we managed to escape.
Finding safety in Sudan: fleeing war
The village’s car took us and some other families to a place I can’t remember very well. But soon after we arrived, we had to move again because it still wasn’t safe.
We spent hours on the streets, trying to find a safe place, until a kind man invited us to stay in a large office building until things calmed down. He gave us food and water for two days before we were moved again to another house, where we stayed until after Eid.
After Eid, my family and I travelled to my grandmother’s house in Al Jazeera Aba. We rented a house nearby and lived there for about four months.
When the war started again in Al Jazeera, we had to leave once more. We moved to the city of Kassala, where we are now. Even though the city isn’t perfect, I feel safer here, and I’d be shocked if the war reached us here again… I hope it doesn’t.
*Name changed to protect privacy