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Families worry for Sudanese loved-ones
Two Sudanese citizens living in Atlanta say they are deeply worried for their separate families still in the war-torn country.
ATLANTA - They cannot send money, food or supplies. Sometimes they cannot even reach their families. All the people from the Sudanese community living in metro Atlanta can do is turn on TV or go online and watch the painful images of war.
"I’m on edge," Nusiaba Abbas, a graduate student at Agnes Scott College who lives near Athens. "I put a smile to hide to mask what’s going on."
Abbas cannot believe how the country where she was born has descended into chaos and violence.
"I don’t want to look at social media. I don’t want to look at Instagram. I don’t want to look at Facebook. They’re just horror pictures of dead bodies," Abbas said.
She fights through her tears as she describes the pain of watching the horror. "Sometimes I lock myself in the room. I don’t want to come downstairs because I don’t want to see on the TV what’s going on," Abbas said.
Rival generals, leading the government on one side, rebels on the other, launched a war in Sudan’s capital city, Khartoum, in th
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Sporadic gunfire in Sudan despite 3-day truce
Sporadic gunfire rang out across Sudan’s capital Tuesday, despite a three-day truce between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group.
The fighting leaves communication with her grandmother, aunt and uncles nearly impossible. "There is no internet over there," Abbas said.
When she can reach her loved ones, she hears stories of terror from her little nieces and nephews. "They will scream when they hear the bombs. They will hide under the bed," Abbas said.
Abbas describes what her nephew, just 3 years old, has to endure. "I could see the airplanes. I could see the smoke. I hope they don’t hit our house," Abbas said.
Abdalla Abdelmageed, who runs a driver’s education school, lives in Avondale Estates. His wife and three young children in Sudan live with the constant fear that each day could be their last. "My family, they don’t have food. They don’t have shelter to sleep safely," Abdelmageed said. "Right now, my family, they sleep under the beds."
The war has trapped their families. They can’t leave the country. Abdelmageed and Abbas want the international community to step in and hold both sides accountable for their atrocities. And they want the fighting to end so innocent people can live in peace and get the help they desperately need. "The government and the rebels don’t care about the people and about the country," Abdelmageed said.
"It needs to be stopped so people can send food," Abbas said.