(Sulaymaat) Salma
Salma Omar Mansour
On the evening of last Tuesday, the fourth of August, I was discussing the concerns of our homeland with some friends on the Twitter platform when our friend Al-Rafai joined us. He asked us to listen to some individuals without informing us about what they were going to talk about, and we agreed.
We thought he might bring one of his friends or the voice of his young son, as we were accustomed to chatting with him occasionally, and he would even sing for us in Hindi. However, the surprise was that the speaker was a man who urgently requested our assistance. He was in dire need of feeding his five children (barely making ends meet).
We learned that Al-Rafai was traveling to inspect the conditions of the displaced people from the capital to the city of Kosti. This was a camp in one of the citys schools, housing many families under extremely harsh conditions, with little assistance except from some charitable individuals from the city.
Afterward, we spoke to Imtithal, who is an asthma patient and urgently requires a medication worth two thousand pounds per week.
Sherif, a nine-year-old boy with special needs suffering from Down syndrome, also contributed to the conversation.
He greeted us, and his words felt like a refreshing breeze during a summers heat. He began by asking for our names, as he saw our pictures on the platform. He would choose from our photos and inquire, Whos this? Al-Rafai would read the names to him and initiate conversations with us.
Al-Rafai moved to another section of the camp and spoke to Khameesa, inquiring about her needs. After a quick introduction to the names displayed on the screen, she requested to speak with me. She mentioned that she was in her final month of pregnancy and was supposed to have a cesarean section. However, when she went to the city hospital, they rejected her due to her inability to afford it. I reassured her that, God willing, her situation would be resolved, and she would be fine, giving birth to a beautiful baby like herself.
My words aimed to alleviate some of her sorrow. In that very moment, we collectively decided to provide assistance, as the saying goes, Give from what you have. We formed a small WhatsApp group of those present to discuss how to assist. We collected modest financial contributions, and some members of the group were from Kosti, asking Al-Rafai to get in touch with Dr. Abu Talib to handle the medical procedure. Dr. Fayza, the pharmacist, took care of the medications.
These are the children of Sudan. The giving didnt stop there; the doctors in the city promptly offered assistance.
On Friday, I was in another session covering the latest events in Sudan. My husband, Atta, called me and gave me the news of the arrival of a little Salma, named after me. It was a surprise for me, a mixture of joy and sadness. I didnt expect Khameesa to name her daughter after me, especially when she didnt know the babys gender. Prior to that, our friend Abdul Latif covered the naming costs of Salma, and my husband and I took care of little Salma. And today, in the same camp, another difficult childbirth case emerged, and the same group handled the costs. Another Salma arrived and was also named after me.
I hope the war ends and these little Salmats, born in the toughest of days, enjoy a beautiful, peaceful, secure life in a country of safety, where they can experience freedom, education, and security.
Write, teach, and peace be upon you,
No one should groan; you wont hear from me.
No blood shall be shed,
No reply shall be helpless,
No treatment shall be ineffective,
No tears on a cheek.
