Hawa’s Story: Seeking Safety in Jabel Marra, Sudan

Hawa Ishaq Boush never imagined she would one day be forced to beg to keep her children alive.

The mother of ten fled Al Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region after violence and conflict tore through her community. What should have been a journey to safety became a grueling escape, ending at a camp for internally displaced people in the mountains of Jabel Marra, South Darfur.

Now, Hawa and her children live among thousands of families uprooted by Sudan’s escalating conflict. Since violence intensified in 2023, millions across Sudan have been forced from their homes. In such camps, families arrive with almost nothing, hoping to find safety but instead facing devastating living conditions and severe shortages of basic necessities.

“Our situation here is bad. We depend on the host community. We have to leave our children at home, and we go out to beg,” Hawa says. “We don't have blankets, we have nothing, just the support of relatives to feed our children. Every day we go out seeking food, and the children have no clothes now.”

Children at Risk

“We have at least 25,000 individuals already in the camp, and 15,000 of them are children,” says Grace Mavhezha, Communication and Advocacy Manager for World Vision Sudan. “Of those children, we have 197 unaccompanied and separated children recorded so far.”

For Hawa, survival has become a daily struggle. Each day without work or income forces impossible choices.

The crisis has hit children especially hard. Across Sudan, 4.2 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 800,000 children experiencing severe wasting, a life-threatening condition that can become irreversible without urgent therapeutic treatment.

Women and Girls Facing Increased Danger

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by the Sudan crisis. Millions are at heightened risk of physical, emotional, and sexual violence as conflict and displacement continue to erode protection systems and essential services.

Hawa worries constantly about her children and about what tomorrow might bring.

“There is no medicine at the camp, and there is not enough water, and no money to buy it. My children have not eaten because today I did not go out to look for food. People are really suffering here; there is no food to eat, no clothes or even shoes. Some children die from hunger. We have nothing,” she says.

Living Without the Basics

In the camp, shortages extend far beyond food. Families struggle to access clean water, medicine, and safe shelter. As the rainy season approaches, families face increasing risks from disease, flooding, and worsening living conditions.

The camp is located in East Jabel Marra, is one of the hardest-to-reach areas. Only three humanitarian agencies are operating in the camp.

“There is no food, there is no water,” Mavhezha explains. “The situation is that bad. The rainy season is just around the corner, and with these shelters, it means that these people will be vulnerable to the rains and all.”

Needs Remain Urgent

Despite immense challenges, World Vision continues to respond and is providing vital assistance in the camp, including food aid, cash assistance, water, sanitation and hygiene services, health and nutrition support, and child protection programmes, including psychosocial support to the survivors of sexual violence and to unaccompanied children.

“The people in the IDP camp need support. World Vision is currently in the camp supporting the unaccompanied and separated children and also giving awareness and support to women who suffered from sexual violence, but this support is not enough,” Mavhezha says.

For women and children already pushed to the brink, continued funding for food assistance, nutrition services, clean water, healthcare, shelter, and child protection programmes is critical. Increased investment in protection services for women and girls, including survivors of violence, also remains urgently needed.

Families like Hawa’s cannot rebuild their lives without sustained humanitarian access, protection for civilians, and stronger global support for the Sudan response.