This platform has allowed us to share our story with an audience who cares, namely our exceptional Sudanese partner, Sara; it has also allowed us to keep our international perspective—a skill that took us nearly four years to cultivate (one that in my opinion, should never be put away or taken for granted); and it has reaffirmed exactly why cultural exchange, competency, and empathy are so important to us now and will always be in the future.
In our attempts to climb back up the curve, Josh and I have been trying to communicate our experiences abroad and the new perspectives we have gained with our friends and family members here at home. Josh’s parents have been extremely kind and generous, allowing us stay with them, while we readjust to life at home and get back on our feet financially. Their generosity and kindness, nonetheless, have been met with some pretty difficult conversations.
On the morning of our last Skype call with Sara and Maha, I was beaming. Although the bulk of our discussion was quite heavy—Sara spoke about the protests that have been happening throughout Sudan, and in her city, Khartoum, since December 19. She spoke about the country’s deepening economic crisis and the impact that inflation and the instability of the Sudanese pound is having on working class families. In a country where bread is the staple food for many families, parents are now struggling to afford to feed their children.
But the roots of the protest run deeper than soaring bread prices. The people of Sudan have been living under a corrupt regime for years, with lump sums of foreign aid money being funneled into the deep pockets of a select few.
