Sofa, a Sudanese refugee turned volunteer.
"These awareness-raising activities enable me to not only share my experiences on the importance of social cohesion and the risks of gender-based violence, but also to promote essential family practices among other women".
Sofa Abrahame Dahye, 30, is a young Sudanese refugee mother. She has two children; the eldest is aged 10 and the youngest is one. Her husband was a handler in Sudan. Up until recently, in their home in the town of Forobaranga in west Darfur, Sofa lived peacefully with her little family, looking after them as best she could.
During the month of Ramadan, Forobaranga was attacked by an armed group, and she watched helplessly as her house was burnt down along with many others. She had no choice but to abandon everything and flee with her family. As she fled, she was able to take her donkey and a few blankets for her children.
She made her way together with several other families who had also lost everything. They found refuge in a village a few kilometers across the border, in Chad. The village of Moudaina would henceforth be her host community. Sofa and her family were warmly welcomed and received food, clothing, and temporary accommodation, just long enough for them to build a small shelter and settle in.
This was followed by assistance from humanitarian organizations with food supplies and vaccination services for the children. Since their arrival in, Sofa’s husband has been unemployed, and they live on aid.
Despite the situation, Sofa feels good with her family in Moudaina.
I feel really safe in Moudaina; we have a very good relationship with the local community; our children share the same play areas and that comforts me even more, she rejoices.
A few days after their arrival at the Moudaina site, Sofa was identified by a team from the Chadian Red Cross to join a group of community volunteers. These volunteers, drawn from Sudanese refugees as well as the local community of Moudaina, were trained to carry out awareness-raising activities.
Today, Sofa is a Chadian Red Cross volunteer in Moudaina, working as part of UNICEF's response to the emergency caused by the Sudanese crisis. She and her fellow volunteers raise awareness among refugees and local communities on the importance of social cohesion, hygiene, sanitation, and vaccination. She considers her work fascinating and fully devotes herself to it.
These awareness-raising activities enable me to not only share my experiences on the importance of social cohesion and the risks of gender-based violence, but also to promote essential family practices among other women, she confides.
These awareness-raising sessions also serve as a framework for expression and dialogue between local communities and refugees on issues of peaceful coexistence and help them come up with homegrown solutions for conflict prevention and resolution.
As a strategy, Sofa prefers to go door-to-door, as this enables her to develop interpersonal communication skills and to be more attentive to the concerns of the women in her community. "These are moments of sharing without taboos. The women are more at ease, and I can listen to their complaints, as well as suggest advice on nutrition and hygiene," she says.
Sofa is happy and committed to playing her part in strengthening social cohesion between the Sudanese refugees and the local community of Moudaina. She is convinced that joint actions can bring about real positive change. "Today, having lost everything because of the war in Sudan, I truly appreciate the importance of peaceful coexistence, and I will work to ensure that host communities and refugees develop community spirit," she adds.
Sofa dreams of seeing the end of the conflict in Sudan and returning to build a new life in a peaceful country. She plans to continue volunteering to raise awareness in her community back home and share her experience with the Chad Red Cross.
In the evening, at the end of the awareness raising activities, Sofa proudly returns home to look after her family, with a sense of accomplishment. She plans to prepare a meal based on millet flour with a sorrel sauce, a dish her family loves.
Thanks to financial support from the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), and the governments of Canada and the United States, UNICEF is raising awareness among the local communities in Mouraina as well as Sudanese refugees about child immunization, essential family practices and peaceful coexistence.
