In the crowded gathering site at Al-Zaeem Al-Azhari School in Port Sudan, 41-year-old Marwa Hassan Saeed holds her daughter close—both weary from a long, painful journey of displacement. Once a teacher at an international school in Khartoum, Marwa’s life was upended by conflict and crisis. A divorced mother of four, she has faced each challenge alone, including the daily struggles of caring for her youngest daughter, who lives with cerebral atrophy.
Life was already difficult, but the outbreak of violence in mid-April 2023 turned it into a series of desperate moves. From Khartoum to Northern State, then to Madani, and finally to Port Sudan, Marwa and her children fled time and again to seek safety. Each step of the way, resources grew scarcer, hope harder to hold onto. Since the start of the current conflict, which has persisted for two years now, large numbers of civilians have been forced to flee, including people who were already internally displaced. As of 5 June 2025, over 7.7 million people have been internally displaced across Sudan, many of them uprooted multiple times as the conflict continues to escalate (Sudan situation). In Madani, Marwa’s family had found a fragile sense of stability—until fighting erupted again. Displaced for the third time, Marwa arrived in Port Sudan with little more than her determination to keep her children safe. Her daughter, who typically gained only one kilogram per year due to her condition, lost half her body weight during the journey—her small body weakened by stress, malnutrition, and the complete absence of medical care.
In Port Sudan, the family finally found a moment of relief, a much-needed support with kitchen ware. In February and March, right before the holy month of Ramadan, Marwa received essential kitchen supplies through a distribution led by UN Women in a partnership with SCEFA and with funding from the Government of Japan. This support enabled her to cook meals for her family and participate in communal food-sharing traditions—an especially important practice during Ramadan, when families and neighbors gather around large, shared plates to break their fast together. For Marwa, the distribution restored not just her ability to feed her children, but also her sense of dignity and connection to her community. Before the intervention, Marwa struggled to prepare proper meals for her children due to a complete lack of basic cooking utensils. With only limited items available in the overcrowded gathering site, preparing and sharing food, especially in a culturally appropriate way, was nearly impossible
“The cooking utensils I received made such a difference,” Marwa shared. “When you are a mother trying to care for children in a place that is not your home, even the smallest support helps you stand again. I’m not the only one. There are so many women here who have lost everything and still wake up every morning to provide for their families. We just need a little more help to keep going.”
Despite all she has endured, Marwa continues to show remarkable resilience. Her story is a testament to the courage of displaced women across Sudan who, even in the face of unimaginable hardship, continue to care for their children and rebuild their lives.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Women – Africa.
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