Defeating Disability and Displacement

“Our life was good before we had to leave, but it looks ugly now. I feel happy when I am here. I love making things with my hands. I make cars with copper wires.  When I grow up, I want to become a mechanical engineer and teach people how to fix cars,’’ said Omar. ‘’I won’t give up learning so I can be what I want to be.”

Omar’s words capture the resilience that fills the Al Madina Al Manawara Safe Learning Space in Al Geneina, West Darfur. Inside the tents, the youngest children colour, draw and play with stuffed toys, soft balls and puzzles. Their laughter fills the air, a stark contrast to the heavy reality outside. For 250 displaced children, this space is a place for hope.

The courtyard is alive with colour. Drawings of flowers, home and flags of Sudan decorate the walls, a creative display of expression and survival. For a moment, the joy inside makes it easy to forget the trauma that shaped this place. Here, joy is intentional.

Children carrying the heaviest burdens 

Across Sudan, childhood has been torn apart on an unimaginable scale. Since the conflict started, over 10 million people have been forced from their homes, half of them children. Schools once meant to protect and nurture young learners have been destroyed, attacked, or turned into shelters. Millions of school-aged children are now out of the classroom; many facing profound psychological distress from the violence they have witnessed and the dangerous journeys they have endured.

Just across the street, the classrooms of the Madina Manawara Primary School stand silent and empty. With too few teachers and too many unmet needs, the school no longer functions as a place of learning. The contrast with the warmth and energy of the Safe Learning Space is striking.

It is one of 150 UNICEF-supported safe learning spaces across Sudan, funded by Education Cannot Wait as part of the First Emergency Response Programme bringing safe, inclusive and quality learning opportunities to 45,000 crisis-affected children. These spaces are lifelines, offering education, play, and psychosocial support to children who have lost almost everything. 

Omar’s journey: pain, loss and determination

Omar was 13 when his life changed forever. One ordinary day, immense pain brought him to his knees. Soon, he could no longer walk. His family tried everything, but medical care was out of reach. The pain in his leg and back worsened, neighbourhood children mocked him, turning his struggle to a cruel game. He stopped going to school because of the physical and emotional toll it took on him. At 16, he was still in third grade, his education interrupted by disability and, later, displacement. Less than six months after his diagnosis, his family fled to safety leaving behind the life they knew.

Over two years later, Omar sits in the Safe Learning Space, determined and undefeated. At first, he kept to himself, refusing to join in the activities. But with the gentle guidance of teachers like Fatma, he began to heal.  

”At first the children’s drawings reflected their trauma, they put down the horrors they saw on their journeys on paper. Over time, the drawings began to show healing and hope. We too started to recover along with them,” Fatma reflects.

Psychosocial support sessions helped Omar regain confidence. He began engaging with the other children and decided to continue learning. His dream? To become a mechanical engineer.

But his challenges are far from over. ‘’I haven’t taken my medication or bought Eid clothes in over 2 years,” adds Omar shyly. 

A community carrying each other

This space also holds stories of superhuman compassion - displaced people helping other displaced people, carrying the load of others before their own. Fatma, heavily pregnant and displaced from her home in Soba, Khartoum, found strength again in teaching. She says holding a pen for purpose gave her back her life. Her resilience mirrors that of the children she teaches.