BREAKING NEWS: Chemical Weapons Used On Civilians in Sudan War

February 12, 2025 — Breaking news from Sudan’s civil war has been announced as the battle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) approaches its two-year mark.

Reports of chemical weapons use have now been added to the mounting evidence of war crimes against civilians, in a brutal ongoing conflict that is shocking the world as more information comes to light.

Horrific Effects of Chemical Weapons

The latest reports of chemical weapons use come from Amnesty International, who claims that civilians in the Darfur region are specifically being targeted.

Amnesty International cited firsthand accounts from villages of unarmed civilians, including children, describing being hit with smoke that “turned dark blue and smelled like rotten eggs.” Victims described the smoke coating the trees, the ground, and the people in a “thick black dust.”

Victims exposed to the smoke further described their skin turning white, rotting or hardening, and falling off in sections. Other reports said children were vomiting blood.

The reports were substantiated by photos obtained by Amnesty International confirming graphic images of children with welts, peeling skin, and infection lesions, consistent with the effects of chemical weapons.

Sudan Relief Fund is one of the few aid organizations on the ground, delivering food relief and medical supplies to victims of this brutal conflict. Most humanitarian organizations have fled the region due to the severe conditions, even as the refugee count soars and the threat of widespread starvation escalates.

Children are innocent victims in a brutal war characterized by war crimes
and gruesome effects of chemical weapons.

No Reporters Allowed – Social Media Banned

Journalists and most aid organizations have been forbidden to enter the area for more than four years. As a result, all evidence must be obtained remotely, complicating reporting efforts.

Chemical weapons experts confirmed the wounds appeared consistent with the chemical agents sulfur mustard, lewisite, and nitrogen mustard, or a possible combination.

The experts said the effects of the chemicals can take hours to fully materialize, and depending on exposure, may also attack internal organs, and cripple or kill victims.

Recent social media blackouts were just imposed by the government, further stifling communication efforts, and preventing those on the ground from sharing reports with the outside world.

Families who fled as their homes were bombed and burned now face starvation
in a massive famine consuming Sudan.

History of the Conflict

Sudan’s current civil war, which began in April 2023, stems from a complex history of political instability and power struggles. Following its independence in 1956, Sudan endured alternating periods of military and civilian rule, alongside devastating internal conflicts, including two prolonged civil wars between the north and south.

A popular uprising in 2019 ousted long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir, sparking hope for a transition to civilian governance. However, a military coup in October 2021 dismantled the civilian-led government, escalating tensions between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 

This rivalry exploded into open conflict in April 2023, unleashing widespread humanitarian abuses, with civilians bearing the brunt of violence through unprovoked killings, sexual assaults, and mass displacements. The situation has worsened dramatically with recent reports of chemical weapons being deployed against civilians, deepening the humanitarian crisis.

Photo evidence that recently surfaced of children’s wounds are consistent
with the horrific effects of chemical weapons attacks.

Widespread Devastation

Since the start of the war, more than 11 million Sudanese have been displaced from their homes, fleeing into neighboring countries or distant parts of Sudan like the Nuba Mountains.

The conflict has devastated the nation. Neighborhoods are burned. Cities are bombed and looted. Services like hospitals and commerce have been brought to a standstill. Sudan’s cities are a hollow shell. The forced cessation of planting and harvesting crops due to fighting, along with military blockades of supply routes, helped fuel a massive famine that now threatens millions with starvation.

Women carry trauma from multiple sexual assaults and being forced to watch as men and boys were executed.

Banned on the World Stage for Inhumanity

Chemical weapons are among the most inhumane tools of war, causing indiscriminate suffering that devastates both civilians and combatants alike. These weapons can inflict excruciating injuries, such as chemical burns, respiratory failure, and internal organ damage, often leaving survivors with lifelong physical and psychological scars if they survive.

The global community, recognizing their inhumane and intolerable impact, adopted the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1993, banning the production, stockpiling, and use of such weapons. Nearly every nation on earth, including the United States, is a party to the treaty, with the US completing the destruction of its entire chemical weapons stockpile in 2023 as part of its commitment to this global effort. 

That such a universally condemned weapon is now reportedly being deployed in Sudan’s civil war is not only a grave violation of international law, but also a shocking escalation of violence, reflecting the utter disregard for human life that has characterized this ongoing conflict. To date little has been done to stem the violence.

Violent militias attempt genocide on targeted people in parts of Sudan
through indiscriminate killings and intentional starvation.

Attempted Genocide

Since the latest Sudanese offensive took place in the region in January, Amnesty International reports up to 250 people have been killed by chemical weapons, and accuses the Sudanese forces of targeting civilians.

“The overwhelming majority of the attacked villages had no formal opposition presence at the time of the attack,” says the organization.

Amnesty also reported that chemical attacks in some areas have been happening for eight months.

War Crimes the World Has Ignored

The use of chemical weapons now adds to many documented reports of war crimes obtained by aid organizations interviewing survivors in refugee camps. These reports include unprovoked executions of men and boys, random house to house shootings, and sexual violence against women after being forced to watch their male family members being shot.

It’s not the first time genocide has been attempted against the people of Darfur. Hundreds of thousands were targeted and killed by the regime of former dictator, Omar al-Bashir, in the previous Sudanese civil war. A similar offensive was mounted in the same war against the people of Nuba. Since the start of the 2023 civil war, targeted bombings have resumed in the Nuba region. Nuban children were killed and many injured last year when a bomb hit a school.

Toddlers are weighing in the size of six-month-old babies due to severe malnourishment.

Starvation in the Nuba Mountains

Now eyes have turned to Nuba as one of the areas facing a widespread threat of starvation, in the crisis the UN is calling the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the planet.

More than one million displaced people have fled to the remote Nuba Mountains for protection. As fighting continues, so does the steady arrival of refugees – a region already reeling from severe famine, vastly under equipped to meet the needs of a swelling refugee population. Reports of families boiling leaves and eating bugs in a desperate attempt to stave off starvation come as most aid organizations have fled the area.

Immediate large-scale intervention is needed to stop what authorities warn
is the worst humanitarian crisis in today’s world.

Sudan Relief Fund continues to send medicine to the sick and injured, and shipments of the nutritional supplement known as Plumpy’Nut, used to save severely malnourished children from starvation. We are one of the few aid organizations working in the Nuba Mountains to fight a humanitarian disaster of massive proportions.

We also support Mother of Mercy Hospital – the only hospital for hundreds of miles in the area, and one of the few hospitals still open in war-ravaged Sudan.

If you would like to help the devastated victims of Sudan’s war – a travesty the world has been turning a blind eye to – please partner with us to rush food and medicine to suffering families and children, in this terrible ongoing crisis.

Read full reports here: https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/29/africa/sudan-chemical-weapon-darfur/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/world/africa/sudan-chemical-weapons-sanctions.html

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/08/sudan-war-crimes-rampant-as-civilians-killed-in-both-deliberate-and-indiscriminate-attacks-new-report/

https://www.semafor.com/article/01/16/2025/us-accuses-sudans-military-of-using-chemical-weapons

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Zakia

When A Dream Keeps You Alive

From Refugee to College Grad

Sometimes it’s not a hero who saves your life. Not a skilled doctor, or a much-needed medicine, but a dream that keeps you going. A dream you hang on to that prevents you from giving up, despite the odds.

For young Zakia John Idriss, it was her dream of education that kept her alive during her time in the refugee camps.

From her early years growing up in the Nuba Mountains, Zakia loved school. She excelled in elementary, and her sights were set on being part of the minority population of girls who make it to secondary school in this part of the world. Recognizing her academic talent, Zakia’s father and family also supported her dream.

But that dream was shattered when war came. All the schools were closed. Zakia’s extended family scattered in different directions as they fled. She found herself in the Yida refugee camp in northern South Sudan. Life became completely unfamiliar in this strange and despondent place.

Zakia marshaled her courage and did what she was good at – she learned new skills. With training she received from the NGO at her refugee camp, she became a nursing assistant at Yida. With plenty of work at the sprawling camp, Zakia worked long hours. It kept her mind busy and away from the edge of despair. She even earned some money working for the NGO, which she saved diligently.

Then one day Zakia learned of a refugee camp in Kenya where some people lived while also attending secondary school. She saved enough money to move to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, where she dared to hope once again that her dream of finishing high school might still be possible.

Someone else recognized Zakia’s academic ability at Kakuma, and Zakia received a scholarship to enroll in a boarding school – the Morneau Shappell Girls’ Secondary School in Kakuma Arid Zone, Kenya. She found the new environment both challenging and rewarding. Compared to other students, Zakia said she felt like an orphan, with barely any support to meet even her basic needs. But she was working toward her dream of completing high school, and that kept her going.

In 2017, Zakia completed her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). Though no family members were there to cheer her accomplishment when her certificate was awarded, Zakia knew they would be proud of her. Despite incredible setbacks, she had finished high school. It was an overwhelming moment for her.

In 2021, Zakia was blessed with the opportunity to attend the Solidarity Teachers Training College (STTC) in Yambio, a Sudan Relief Fund sponsored college offering two-year teacher training certificates that qualify graduates to teach primary school. The college is sponsored as a means to promote education in South Sudan and supply the much-needed demand for qualified teachers across the country.

Zakia recalls gaining a wealth of knowledge and experience studying at STTC, and that living in the dormitories with students from other tribes across South Sudan was culturally enriching. At one point she was teaching in classrooms with over 120 students at a time, which she considered “one of her most memorable experiences.”

After two years she proudly received her Certificate in Primary Education from the University of Juba through the STTC. “Becoming a qualified primary teacher filled me with immense pride,” she shared.

Each year the STTC selects a handful of students to receive scholarships for further college education, and Zakia was accepted for a Bachelor’s Degree program at the UK Open University. “This was the greatest gift of my life,” she recalls. She will earn a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Science alongside her primary school teaching certificate. After completing her degree program in December of 2024, Zakia hopes to return to Nuba to visit her family, whom she hasn’t seen in years. 

“I am deeply grateful to Solidarity Teacher Training College for providing me with education. I owe a great debt of gratitude to the STTC administration, teachers, and religious sisters and brothers from different international congregations who have inspired and supported me over the last four years, giving me a new lease on life,” said Zakia.

Going far beyond she ever thought she would in her dream to finish high school, the college graduate now has a new goal in life. She hopes to open up a school in Nuba for poor children, who wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to get an education.

These stories of Lives Saved are made possible by donors and supporters of Sudan Relief Fund, whose contributions make it possible to support schools like the Solidarity Teacher Training College and scholarships for girls to attend school. Thank you for transforming lives and giving a new future to girls like Zakia.


Would you like to pray for us? Sign up for our email prayer group to receive weekly emails sharing important needs to pray for. You’ll join a faith community around the globe praying to bring hope and help to suffering people in a forgotten part of the world. Click here to find out more.

Thank You For Changing the World in 2024

Changing the world. Everyone talks about it. Some people do it. This past year you were world changers, through your support, compassion, encouragement, and prayers for the work of Sudan Relief Fund.

Your partnership has been invaluable. Not only did you meet people in their time of need, you also brought hope.

In the past year, you brought food to the famished – the most important gift in a time of famine. You helped drill clean water wells across a land sorely lacking this vital resource. You gave medicine to save thousands of lives, and brought healthcare to people who wouldn’t have had it otherwise –  mothers gave birth to babies safely; children received medicine for illnesses; the injured and the sick found the help they needed.

You saved families in their time of distress and brought them from war to a safe place. You were a caregiver to children who lost their parents and found themselves orphaned with nowhere to go. You fed these children, sheltered them, clothed them, and sent them to school to learn and grow. You reminded them that they are still loved. You gave them a future they wouldn’t have.

In every challenge faced this year, you carried the torch of help and hope, making an incredible difference for people in urgent need. You changed their world.

Thank you for all you do, and for transforming lives in 2024. You are the foundation of Sudan Relief Fund’s work. The good achieved last year was made possible by your support. We are humbly grateful for your compassion and commitment. And so are they.

Sincerely,

Neil A. Corkery, President

Helping Orphans Survive War and Famine

Orphans are the collateral damage in warfare. Right now they lie starving in refugee camps, or trapped in war zones they can’t escape—terrified, hungry, maybe injured.

Sudan’s brutal civil war, now in its second year, has left 11 million people with no home. Half the homeless are women and a quarter of these now destitute victims are children. These incomprehensible figures put the number of children in crisis in the millions.

Orphans Face Insurmountable Dangers

It’s difficult to estimate how many children have been orphaned in the world’s worst humanitarian tragedy today. They’re scattered in refugee camps across Sudan, South Sudan and elsewhere. Not all have even made it to camps – where in some cases the conditions are not much better than what they escaped, except there’s no immediate fighting.

Orphans who survived the war face a horrific famine stretching across the region. Food shortage is everywhere. Unaccompanied children are vulnerable in many ways. Human trafficking, assault, and being forced into violent militias are just some of the terrible threats they face. Add to this the very real risk of starvation, and no medical help if they’re injured or get sick. 

Orphaned children can’t survive these overwhelming dangers alone. They will die from one or a combination of these deadly threats.  

A New Home – With donor support, a new home for the children of St. Bakhita’s Orphanage is nearly complete. 

Hope in a Dark Scenario

Despite the widespread tragedy, there are areas of hope – light shining into the dark plight of orphans in this part of the world. With the compassion of our faithful donors and partners, we are supporting orphanages and initiatives to help displaced children.

Caring for Refugee Children

In the region of Malakal, where hundreds of thousands have swarmed across the border for refuge, we are supporting emergency food deliveries to fight the famine. Orphans and unaccompanied children are identified for being at special risk, so they can be accounted for and don’t fall through the cracks.

In the Nuba Mountains where 3 million people are facing starvation, we’re sending nutrition packets to save malnourished children, and medicine for the only hospital open in the entire region.

Transforming their Future at St. Bakhita Orphanage

St. Bakhita Orphanage in Nzara, championed for decades by the courageous Sister Bianca Bii, takes care of more than 150 orphaned children. Here they are fed, clothed, sheltered, sleep in their own beds, receive medical care, and have the chance to go to school. 

Many of St. Bakhita’s orphans were relocated from Tombura, the former site of the orphanage, when conditions became unstable and threatened the children’s safety. Since then, your support has made it possible to construct a new, sturdy home for them in the stable locale of Nzara.

Their new home is complete with girls’ and boys’ dormitories allowing for up to 200 children in each, a kitchen, gathering area, solar powered water well, and even a room for Sister Bianca and her small staff – something she’s never had. The dormitories contain double decker beds and mattresses, and a fence was built all around the orphanage for security. Your support also provided bedding and mosquito nets for each child, clothing, school uniforms, and eating utensils. The children attend a nearby school and have access to quality medical care at a Sudan Relief Fund sponsored hospital.

A Mother to Many – Sister Bianca Bii, now in her eighties, has watched many orphans grow up.
She cares for over 150 children.

Earlier this year, Sister Bianca – now in her eighties – was taken to Uganda to undergo minor back surgery and eye surgery. She is fully recuperated and back at the orphanage, residing with the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who provide Sister Bianca with support to run the home. One of St. Bakhita’s girls who also needed a minor surgery was taken to Uganda at the same time. The procedure was successful, and she has recovered and returned to the orphanage.

Recently St. Bakhita received two babies after their mothers tragically died in childbirth, putting the population of children you’re helping to care for at 152. Sister Bianca started a training program this year for the teens to learn skills in tailoring, so these youth will be equipped with a trade in addition to their schooling, giving them diverse opportunities for a successful future.  

Saving Malnourished and Abandoned Babies at Sisters of Charity

In Rumbek, the Missionary Sisters of Charity orphanage is nursing malnourished babies back to health. Many babies are abandoned because their mothers can’t take care of them, or they were born from trauma-induced scenarios. Or in all-too-common instances, their young mother died in childbirth. Famished mothers can’t produce milk to feed their starving infants. 

These babies have no chance of survival without the faithful care of the Sisters of Charity. Now they have a future.

Saving Starving Children – War created many orphans.
Your support provides food, shelter, and medical care for the unprotected.

Make a Difference 

Children at these orphanages have grown up to be successful, educated adults, with a keen sense of giving back. They are given a new chance at life – something that would never happen without your support.

Right now tens of thousands of children have lost everything in Sudan’s devastating war – including someone to take care of them. Without help, these little ones cannot survive. Will anyone hear their cries this Christmas? Please consider putting an orphaned child on your gift list this year. All they want is for someone to protect them from the terrible dangers they face. Can you imagine what they’ve endured? Things no child should ever see or experience. But you can help. You can literally save their life this Christmas. 

Anitha Nagara

Small Business Program Changes a Mother’s Life

“I used to worry about where our next meal would come from”

Poverty is a sinkhole that drags families into hunger, sickness, and despair – sometimes for generations. Yet often a simple act of opportunity can change everything, providing wider benefits that reverberate across families and entire communities.

Sudan Relief Fund partners with STAR Support Group (SSG) in Yambio, South Sudan, to provide opportunities like these that can change lives. One such vehicle is the microfinance program, which gives mini loans and training to help poverty stricken families – particularly single mothers – start small businesses to support themselves and their children.

In Yambio, Anitha Nagara constantly struggled to provide for her children, and held out little hope this would improve. Feeding her children was the highest priority, so there was no money left for clothing, school, or medicine if they became sick. 

A woman’s opportunity has historically been extremely limited here. Despite small steps being achieved to help women, progress is slow and the problem remains widespread. Anitha and her children faced a bleak future, simply striving to survive each day at a time.

When Anitha was identified as a candidate for the microfinance program, her entire life began to turn around. She had longed for an income generating opportunity, but without the resources to get started, she never believed it was achievable. When she received a microfinance loan for a small agricultural booth at the local market, it marked the first step on her life changing journey to financial sustainability and independence.

The microfinance initiative doesn’t stop at lending seed money, but provides training in basic finance and business practices as well, to help first-time small business owners achieve a successful startup. Anitha invested wisely, establishing a small-scale business in Yambio’s open market selling agricultural products and everyday goods to the community.

Her business quickly gained traction. Saving diligently, Anitha took out a second loan this year to expand her offerings. With much determination and effort, she has transformed her business from one small stall to a thriving business. With the income generated, she can feed her children consistently. She no longer worries they will go hungry from not being able to purchase food.

As she continues to grow her small business, Anitha now carries hope in her heart. She feels motivated every day to get up and manage her business, and she continues to set her sights on exploring new opportunities.

What’s more, Anitha can now afford to pay school fees and give her children the education she always hoped they could receive. Education is critical for children, especially in South Sudan, to lift them from poverty and equip them for successful futures.

“Microfinance has changed my life in so many ways,” she expressed. “I used to worry where our next meal would come from. But now I can provide for my family and give my children a chance at a better future.”

Because of your support, not only has Anitha’s life been turned around. Each of her children are impacted as well. Growing up educated, they will have better employment opportunities, and a greater ability to care for their own families.

Sometimes saving a life is as simple as providing a produce stall in a local market – a small assist with lasting and far-reaching effects.

These stories of Lives Saved are made possible by donors and supporters of Sudan Relief Fund. Thank you for reaching out to give hope and a future to families like Anitha Nagara’s.


Would you like to pray for us? Sign up for our email prayer group to receive weekly emails sharing important needs to pray for. You’ll join a faith community around the globe praying to bring hope and help to suffering people in a forgotten part of the world. Click here to find out more.

Giving Thanks to the Heroes

Sometimes saying thank you seems insufficient. At this time of year when those in the U.S. focus on giving thanks, we at Sudan Relief Fund extend our heartfelt gratitude to you. Our donors and partners are no less than heroes. You save vulnerable lives every day. You protect women and children. You give orphans a home. You feed starving families, bring clean water to desolate places, and give medicine to the sick. You carry the war-weary to safety. You bring hope to people who without you would have little reason to hope.

We also take this opportunity to thank our courageous workers on the ground in Sudan and South Sudan, who labor all year through challenging conditions to ensure the gifts you donate make it to the people who need them most. 

Your partnership this year has saved countless lives and relieved a multitude of suffering. We offer our thanks for your heroism. And we pray that the blessings you share selflessly will return to you in abundance, this Thanksgiving and always.

Sincerely, 
Neil A. Corkery, President
Sudan Relief Fund

 

Tiyana

Young Girl Saved from Tuberculosis

“I am very thankful to this hospital”

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the leading infectious causes of death worldwide to this day. TB attacks the lungs and moves insidiously into other parts of the body, such as bones, kidneys, brain, and spinal cord. It can spread its deadly trail through the lymphatic system. And if left untreated in a timely manner, lead to permanent damage or death.

Tiyana was just sixteen years old when she began to feel pain in her abdomen, and experience stomach sickness that would not go away. She went to her local clinic where she was prescribed medicine for the nausea. But it didn’t help.

The abdominal pain only grew worse. What’s more, Tiyana could barely eat at all, and she was rapidly becoming thin and frail. Tiyana suffered this way for two months, vomiting constantly and bearing pain that didn’t let up.

Tiyana returned to the clinic in desperation. Seeing her declining condition, the clinicians referred her to Mother of Mercy Hospital – a mission hospital in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, directed by Dr. Tom Catena for the past sixteen years. It is a Sudan Relief Fund supported hospital, and the only facility for hundreds of miles in all directions capable of delivering comprehensive treatment not found anywhere else in the region.

As soon as she arrived, Dr. Tom performed an ultrasound and diagnosed Tiyana with abdominal tuberculosis. At this point, she could no longer walk by herself, and had to be supported by two nurses. She was immediately started on strong rounds of medications to try to halt the onslaught of the illness.

Her TB had progressed so severely before Tiyana made it to the hospital that it would be a long road to recovery for her. Nevertheless, the team at Mother of Mercy didn’t let up and Tiyana never stopped fighting. It took a month and a half of treatment for her to turn the corner. But at last she did.

Now that she was strong enough, Tiyana also underwent abdominal surgery to repair damage to her intestines. She could begin to eat again, and Dr. Tom put her on a nutritional regimen to help Tiyana recover from her emaciated state.

Three and a half months after arriving, Tiyana is finally out of the woods and feeling strengthened again. She was moved to a rehabilitative area of the hospital to complete her full TB treatment regimen, after which time she will return home as a healthy teenage girl once again.

“I am very thankful to God for this hospital because…I would have certainly lost my life just like many others,” Tiyana expressed. “My gratitude also goes to Dr. Tom and his team for their commitment to serving humanity and saving lives like mine.”

Tiyana was able to get quality care from an excellent surgeon at Mother of Mercy Hospital, ensuring she won’t become another victim to the deadly assault of tuberculosis. Your partnership and support of the hospital has given Tiyana and those like her new hope for their future.

These stories of Lives Saved are made possible by donors and supporters of Sudan Relief Fund. Each year, our donors fund nearly all the medicine used to treat patients like Tiyana at Mother of Mercy Hospital, saving countless lives.

Would you like to pray for us? Sign up for our email prayer group to receive weekly emails sharing important needs to pray for. You’ll join a faith community around the globe praying to bring hope and help to suffering people in a forgotten part of the world. Click here to find out more.

Christine

The Sewing Machine that Built a House and Saved a Family

Making a difference is sometimes as simple as the gift of a tool – a common utility that can open up new worlds of opportunity. For Christine Stanley who struggled to feed her family and make ends meet, that gift was a sewing machine. And it changed her entire life.

Sudan Relief Fund partners with STAR Support Group in Yambio, South Sudan, to empower desperately impoverished people with the skills and means to sustain themselves. It’s the timeless concept of “give me a fish and I eat for a day; teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime.”

Participants in the program receive skills training so they can build small businesses to support themselves and their families. They also receive basic finance instruction and tools needed to get started. The ripple effects of these opportunities benefit children, families, and sometimes even extended families and members of the community.

When Christine was identified as a candidate in severe need and joined the tailoring program, it wasn’t long before she became a star student. A single mother, she was dedicated and hard working, known for her quick learning and diligence toward her craft. When she graduated from the training in 2023, she received a special gift – her own sewing machine, along with materials to launch her start-up tailoring business.

Christine proved to be a capable entrepreneur. She saved meticulously and was blessed with a windfall of work during the busy Christmas season. Eventually she was able to save enough money to fulfill a landmark goal she’d dreamed of – a walled-in living accommodation for her and her children.

“Raising a wall was a challenge,” she said, “but with the help of my sewing machine, I’ve been able to provide a safe and secure space for my family.”

Christine is also able to pay for medicine that she needs. Knowing her business made it possible, she says, “I’m so grateful for the program. I can now afford my medication without depending on others.”

This budding entrepreneur did not stop there. She diversified her income-generating activities by investing part of her earnings into a garden. She even hired workers to expand its cultivation and production output. Now she feels secure that her family won’t grow hungry, and she’ll have extra to share or sell at the market.

Opportunity is rare for mothers like Christine in her region of Africa. That’s why this work is so vital here, bringing hope to the vulnerable and making the dependent become self sufficient.

Christine’s story is one of determination, empowerment, and the transformative power of support when simply given an opportunity. With no current challenges facing her or her family, she only wishes for Sudan Relief Fund to continue their life changing work, helping others in need become self-reliant, too.

These stories of lives saved are made possible by the generous and compassionate support of Sudan Relief Fund’s donor community. Thank you for changing lives like Christine’s and her children, who now face the future with hope and a solid foundation.

Would you like to pray for us? Sign up for our email prayer group to receive weekly emails sharing important needs to pray for. You’ll join a faith community around the globe praying to bring hope and help to suffering people in a forgotten part of the world. Click here to find out more.

South Sudan Postpones Elections for Second Time

The government of South Sudan has announced it will postpone the general election that was scheduled to take place in December of this year.

This is the second time the government has postponed South Sudan’s elections, since a transitional government was formed in 2018 to end a bloody civil war between rivals Salva Kiir, the nation’s interim president, and Riek Machar, the sitting vice president.

The government cited a need for “more time” to complete prerequisites to the election that would include conducting a general census, drafting a permanent constitution, and registering political parties.

An added concern was instability in a nation already suffering the effects of extreme poverty, weather disasters, and a widespread famine worsened by an overwhelming influx of refugees escaping Sudan’s civil war.

Kiir’s office issued a statement saying, “There is a need for additional time to complete essential tasks before the polls,” adding that the country is going through an economic crisis in which civil servants haven’t been paid for nearly a year after its oil exports were affected by a damaged pipeline from the civil war in Sudan.

The United Nations echoed concerns in March over the possibility of chaos ensuing in South Sudan if elections were not managed carefully, noting “intensified fights over resources, high unemployment, political competition among the ruling elite, increased inter-communal clashes, and the added strain of returnees and refugees escaping the conflict” from Sudan’s civil war all contribute to its precarious state.

“There is a potential for violence with disastrous consequences for an already fragile country and the wider region,” the UN said further.

As of now, South Sudan’s general election has been pushed to December of 2026. It would be the first in the world’s youngest country, which only achieved its independence in 2011.

Sudan Relief Fund continues to deliver aid to the refugee crisis in South Sudan’s northern region, where Sudan’s ongoing civil war continues to force a steady flow of displaced people across the border.

Read more here:

South Sudan postpones December election by two years (Al Jazeera)

South Sudan’s Government Delays Presidential Vote by Two Years (yahoo.com)

How You've Helped

St. Theresa Hospital Nzara

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

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Wednesday, November 1, 2023

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Friday, September 1, 2023

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Saturday, August 26, 2023

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