Of Dust and Smoke
Marhaba,
This is the 51st issue of Atar English, published by the Sudan Facts Center for Journalism. It reaches you every two weeks, bringing reporting from across Sudan.
The theme travels across markets, hospitals, villages, campuses and lake shores revealing the dynamics of ongoing processes of reorganization by means of war within Sudan. The picture that will come into light is not only that of decline, but also that of adaptation, improvisation and of uneven systems evolving in war-torn Sudan.
The discussion opens with the story from Dar Mali, in which one of Sudan’s biggest gold markets exists, functioning not only as an industrial park, but also as a fortified security zone. Behind the flow of ores, chemicals, and money stands an entire social system that functions based on exploitation. Gold passes through licenses, processing facilities, laboratories, and unofficial channels, and traders, laborers, and brokers participate in an economic system in which dust is money itself.
Our journey takes us next to Lake Nubia where the mass mortality of fish and the discolouration of water pointed to an escalating environmental catastrophe driven by climate change, changes in hydrology, and the operations of the High Dam. By analyzing satellite imagery, this article highlights the impacts of rising temperature, reduced river flow, and the accumulation of nutrients that led to a dangerous algae bloom in Sudanese waters. This is not merely a tale of fish deaths but one of a fragile aquatic ecosystem and the lack of necessary surveillance systems to forecast such catastrophes.
The breakdown of health infrastructure marks the next segment of this issue. In Darfur, a measles outbreak is occurring quickly across camps, urban centers, and remote rural areas amidst the dysfunction of hospitals due to shortages of medicines, vaccines, and personnel. Beyond this public health crisis lies the broader issue of how war destroys the invisible networks that underpin our very existence well before violence touches each community individually. For the families who have to contend with disease inside crowded shelters and scattered villages, the emergency rooms try to control the spread of the disease with little to no means.
However, there are also tales of social change. In River Nile State, displacement has disrupted the pace of life in ways that were difficult to imagine during the early days of the conflict. Separated families came together once more in their ancestral homes. New eateries, studios, firms, and sports projects transformed cities such as Atbara and Ad-Damar. The displaced had brought with them fresh expertise, tastes, and labor practices into their newfound locations, which also responded in kind. Thus, the social interaction has been formed by the war.
The environmental impacts of wartime survival emerge once more in Al-Qutaina, where charcoal smoke envelops residential areas due to shortages of other fuels leading individuals to burn wood and charcoal. Families recount spending entire nights blocking up windows to prevent choking from the smoke, and healthcare providers and residents alike speak of increased cases of respiratory infections. The apparent issue with domestic fuel becomes more significant as environmental damage, illegal tree cutting, and accelerated desertification emerge.
Questions of return, reconstruction, and normalization have also affected coverage of this issue relating to the University of Khartoum. The university’s move to return to conducting physical exams in war-destroyed facilities has burdened the students located in different parts of Sudan as well as in the diaspora. While there is talk of creating stability, it is also important to understand that the institution itself is grappling with questions of its own stability, especially in conditions of destruction.
There is also the issue of mourning in this issue, with the passing of Muzan Alneel, a prominent political and intellectual voice in Sudanese activism. In all her political engagements, Muzan consistently connected economic, feminist, and revolutionary politics to the plight of ordinary people living under structural violence and oppression. Given the current fragmentation of Sudan under war, memory itself has become a profoundly political matter.
The discussion ends, however, with the price bulletin, a clear indication that economic difficulties continue to define life for citizens all over the nation. Inflation, shortages and the changing nature of wartime economy have remained the harsh realities of life for citizens trying to eat, travel, learn and survive.
From these stories emerges the picture of Sudan struggling amidst weariness and transformation. While war has been responsible for the destruction of many institutions and infrastructures in Sudan, it has been responsible for other transformations too.
Atar Editorial Team
