Women Light Up Homes, Not A War

Port Sudan 7-02-2025 (Sudanow) The devastating war that has been raging in Sudan for twenty-two months has imposed difficult conditions on citizens in all parts of Sudan, and on women in particular. These conditions have become a burden on their shoulders, forcing them to risk their lives to preserve their homes. Water stations have stopped in most conflict areas as a result of clashes, artillery or deliberate targeting by the militia. This has forced women to go to rivers or wells to fetch water, as well as firewood. With the lack of electricity and gas, it has become an alternative process to help prepare food, coffee and tea by burning firewood directly or by turning it into charcoal.

The village of Wawsii Sheikh Abdel Qader, 23 km from Bahri, 7 km from the Jelei refinery, its women returned to live the lives of their ancestors in the past, after the outbreak of war in Khartoum, fetching water, cutting firewood and living in complete darkness without electricity, years they heard about in history or in the stories of grandmothers now over 70 years old, living in the past has become a reality here for two years since the fighting began to reclaim Sudan from the Rapid Support Militia.

Women have been risking their lives for two years under dangerous conditions and a tense security situation, fetching water and fuel, in order to maintain the cycle of life in their homes.
"Sik sik sik" The sounds of donkey carts and carts on the roads in the morning herald another time to operate the well, as we stand near Sheikh Abdul Qadir's well, watching donkey carts (quari) approach, carts and people carrying containers on their heads, a person might walk for an hour to get drinking water, people with fatigue and exhaustion visible on their faces. The person in charge of managing the well, Madani Al-Khalifa Al-Misbah, spoke to Sudanaw, saying that Sheikh Abdul Qadir's well is more than 100 years old, dug during the reign of the first caliph of Sheikh Abdul Qadir's village, it was abandoned after water stations became available and was limited to helping bury the dead, in the past it was pulled out manually, the circumstances of the war required the citizens to come back to use it and work together to operate it.

The well is managed through self-help and contributions are focused on bringing fuel to operate the steamer only. Sudanaw toured around the well to monitor the suffering of the citizens. Tahani Abdullah, a housewife, told Sudanaw that she comes several times to get water, describing the matter as tiring but necessary for ablution and daily use. As for fresh water, their son is forced to go to the Nile every day to get drinking water. Sabah Abdel Rahim said, "We depend on buying drinking water, and my young son and I bring the well water with our tugboats for daily use. The war has forced innocent people to go through experiences from the archives. Here is the child Al-Zubair Muhammad Al-Atta helping his brothers bring water. He says that walking carrying water on top of one's head or on tugboats is exhausting and that his brothers are young girls who cannot carry water. A child who is no more than 13 years old speaks like an adult who bears responsibility for his young brothers.
Sharaf Al-Din Al-Atta Hassan, a cart owner, told Sudanaw that we sell well water for 4,000 and sea water for 5,000 per barrel. The price of a barrel is fixed for all the cart owners. I have taken bringing water as a source of income for myself after all daily livelihoods and work, from farming to labor, stopped.

This village lies on the shoulder of the Nile, which cuts through Sudan towards the north. It suffered greatly from the water crisis after the bombing of the Al-Jili water station that supplies Al-Jili locality with fresh water. The Al-Jili water station was operating, during the first period of the war, with the efforts of young people. The area is led by Ali Al-Naseeh Al-Qalaa, who supervises the water station by providing gas and repairing any malfunctions in it, in addition to collecting donations from the residents to repair and operate it.
After the situation worsened and the Rapid Support Militia spread and terrorized the residents of the area with weapons and blogging, reaching the Al-Jili water station became impossible and the residents relied on well water and going to the Nile or buying drinking water.
The women of Sheikh Abdel Qader village were not the only ones, there are many like them who risk their lives for the sake of their homes. Sudanaw monitored women who had experiences in collecting firewood and fetching water in several areas in Sudan.
Tarteel Mohamed, a laboratory doctor, tells Sudanaw about her suffering after being displaced to the village of Ad Al-Haj in Al-Jazeera, and says to Sudanaw: She was forced to walk about 1-2 kilometers to get clean water and firewood. She said that with the fluctuations in electricity, the lack of cooking gas, and the high price of charcoal, the poor economic situation imposed by the war did not allow them to keep up with the merchants of the wood. All citizens resorted to firewood, as it is the only tool that helps women in cooking.
She added that firewood is something difficult in which women may face the risk of scorpion or snake bites because most of the areas where firewood is collected are abandoned farms and fields.
Tarteel said that most of those who do these tasks are women because they are relatively free, and one may have to take her children with her on a firewood collection trip. She mentioned that dealing with water and firewood must be done rationed because obtaining them is very difficult now. Clean water is a rare commodity, as water comes through pipes late, in small quantities, and is unstable and not sufficient for daily use. Some women stay up all night to obtain it.
////Sudanaw, Suhaila Musa, a student, told the story of her reliance on firewood and bringing water from the White Nile River. When I moved to Kosti, gas and water were not available. We relied mainly on charcoal and buying water from the owners of the kewra.
Suhaila says that in poor villages, women relied more on firewood, cutting dead trees and using them as fuel.
As for water, they transport it directly from the sea in buckets.
I started my journey with 20 women towards the forest trees to collect firewood. It took us an hour to reach it from the village on foot, crossing agricultural lands that had become barren after their owners had been displaced. When we arrived at the intended place, we did not take a break. The women dispersed, collecting fuel for their homes from dry firewood from old pens that their owners had abandoned as a result of the war, or from farms that had dried up from thirst. Sudanaw asked Hanan Hafni, an expert in collecting and tying firewood, how to choose firewood. She said,“Make sure to choose thick, medium-length firewood and collect what you can carry. The most important thing is a thick, strong rope to tie the firewood so it doesn't fall.” Sudanaw witnessed the firewood collection journey, a tiring and arduous journey. Here are the women collecting and tying their firewood, each two helping each other to tie the firewood knot skillfully. The rope is placed on the ground before starting to collect the firewood. The branches are arranged in rows and arranged in the largest order, then the smallest, then the largest. When finished, the rope is wrapped around them. One of them pulls the end of the rope carefully while the other ties the other end with the taut end. Then they test the endurance of the knot by shaking it several times so that it doesn't fall when carried. The knot is carried over the head, and two women help to lift it. In each group, there is an expert who can lift her knot alone. The women walk in a row, leaving space between them, exchanging conversations, sharing news, and cheering each other on. Forgetting the situation that the war has left on their heads, water or firewood.

The arduous weekly journey of the women of the neighborhood took three hours to go and collect firewood. I never expected to live this, I leave my pen and go through an experience to describe it as it is.

I asked them what they use firewood for, they all agreed that they use it to cook kesra and qarasa. The bakeries stopped working a long time ago, they stopped a long time ago, citizens depended on kesra (a mixture of corn flour and wheat cooked on fire) for their food.

Women in conflict areas in Sudan lived for more than a year without electricity or clean drinking water, women cut firewood, brought water, and slept in the evening hoping that this chapter would end!.

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