Sudanese start small businesses to survive war

  • last year

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Transcript
00:00 Before the civil war, Mishaya Lelia worked as a teacher.
00:04 Now this mother spends her time selling food at this market stall, some 100 kilometres
00:08 from Khartoum.
00:12 Every day she prepares these traditional pancakes, earning her just enough to support her children.
00:19 "I had big dreams but I lost hope.
00:24 I put my ambitions, like being a brilliant teacher, on hold.
00:28 Now here I am cooking at a market.
00:31 I could never have imagined this.
00:33 I'm sad but that's war, I don't have any choice."
00:39 She isn't alone.
00:40 Sudanese people across the country have found themselves with no other choice but to do
00:45 whatever they can to make ends meet.
00:48 Two hundred kilometres from the capital, Wad Madani has become a place of refuge for some
00:53 three million displaced people.
00:56 Amongst them, Ali Saif.
00:57 He taught at the Faculty of Environmental Engineering in Khartoum.
01:02 Living in the refugee camp has forced him to come up with creative ways to make a living.
01:07 Nowadays he makes his own soap before selling it at market.
01:12 "The armed forces have seized our homes and our wages still haven't been paid.
01:19 As we say, misfortune breeds creativity.
01:22 So we came up with the idea of making soap, especially given that there isn't any at the
01:27 market even though everyone needs it."
01:32 Before the civil war, one out of every three Sudanese suffered from hunger.
01:37 Millions now are entirely dependent on humanitarian aid to survive.

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