Faiza’s story

Faiza is a disability justice activist and small business owner from Omdurman, which adjoins Khartoum, Sudan. Displaced by conflict, she fled to Gedarif with her daughter, where she rebuilt her livelihood through her ice-cream business while continuing to support other people with disabilities.

Impact of the Sudan Crisis.

The conflict in Sudan is affecting our ADD Sudan team, the organisations we work with, and the disabled people they represent. Many people are displaced and in need of basics like food, shelter and medication. Persons with disabilities are facing additional challenges and may require health and mobility support, which is now even harder to access.

ADD has continued working with organisations of people with disabilities in Sudan, who have formed committees to respond. The committees decided and had a better approach to distribute funds to fit their highly conflict-affected context.

Faiza was displaced by conflict, she fled to Gedarif with her daughter, where she rebuilt her livelihood through her ice-cream business while continuing to support other people with disabilities.

Faiza said:

“I was displaced from Omdurman to Gedarif and lived with some of my relatives because the Internally displaced people’s (IDP) camp was not accessible (entrances to rooms) for me as a woman with disability with one daughter. We suffered a lot during our journey.”

“We reached Gedarif in two days while it usually was about six to eight hours, because there were many check points and I have no identity documents, I lost them all in Khartoum state.”

“I lived with my daughter in a small, rented house. Now I have returned to Omdurman, and I have found nothing in my room. I have searched and rented a new room and veranda in the neighboring area, but it has become expensive.”

Improved Livelihood Through Participatory Grant-making.

Panels of disability justice activists came together and decided how the funds were distributed and who receives it. They had regular meetings, for example to set up the selection criteria, to nominate the grant recipients.

Organisations of persons with disabilities decided to work together as a single committee, identify immediate needs of people with disabilities, and due to the diversity of needs, the committees chose to distribute the funds in cash. They let persons with disabilities allocate their own funds, from paying for hospital bills to using their existing skills to generate income.

No one understands the challenges faced by persons with disabilities better than themselves.

Faiza was selected for support from the emergency grant because she was a disabled women supporting her daughter on her own, and with no other source of income.

“My only source of income is making and selling ice cream. Even during the time I was displaced, I used to make ice-cream by renting a small space in a fridge in the marketplace.”

“I have benefited from the ADD International grant. I have used the money to support my limited capital in ice-cream production, and I purchased medicines for my daughter who is sitting for intermediate school certificate this year.”

Faiza, Disability Justice Activist, Sudan.

When Faiza returned to Omdurman, she did not return empty-handed. The grant had gone into her ice cream production while in Gedarif, sustaining her livelihood through displacement and giving her an economic foundation to come home to.