AWAKENED BY NUBIAN MARIA
Smack in the center of Nubian Sahel, in an IDP camp in Nyala, South Darfur, stay Nubian Maria and her 6 cherubic children. After her husband’s passing, Nubian Maria dabbles as the shepherd and gatherer of her household. Her distinct atmosphere is full of grace, awe-inspiring and virtuous. Nubian Maria is a professional craftswoman. Her magic hands are an essential set of work tools. “She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.”
She is a testimony of the words of the wise. The Wise Solomon proclaimed much decadent utterance about Nubian Maria: “She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.”
“In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.”
Nubian Maria knows work. To experience such energy is a sublime experience. Indeed, social work goes hand-in-hand with empowering personal financial freedom. Nubian Maria’s handmade crafts business proves her budding entrepreneurial skills, as well as her unhinged creativity.
With this in consideration, it is the duty of humanitarian bodies in South Darfur to include a creative outlook while creating employment opportunities for the youth and refugees in Darfur. This may help craftswomen like Maria to: develop cultural products to enhance economic opportunities, train to develop innovative contemporary designs in their production, and even train in marketing and management skills. With resource and time, the youth and refugees of South Darfur have a sustainable catalyst to earn a living and sustain their creative prowess.
Through entrepreneurial empowerment, Professor Alexander Betts, Director of the Oxford University said, “Refugees become producers, consumers, entrepreneurs, employees and employers. They help themselves and their communities.”
Nubian Maria misses her village. Nostalgia camps in her mind, with a memory of a place she once called home. When refugees resettle to a host country, they must adapt to a new environment and language under tough circumstances. Nubian Maria teaches her children her mother tongue. Not only does language become a currency of cultural interaction, but a familiar tongue reminiscent of home. Her vernacular language is an unadulterated space to describe her resilient experience as a refugee.
“After December 2013, the conflict and violence which erupted in South Sudan increased the number of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) significantly, from 189,000 to 1.69 million people as of December 2015. Given that the displacement situation is highly fluid, populations are widely dispersed, onward movement and repeated displacement are poorly tracked, and a significant number of IDPs still live in areas that are difficult to access”, reported the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center.
Refugees are a present-day paradox: a majority minority. As of July 2016, 1.7 million people have been displaced by the conflict and violence in South Sudan. It is the right time to stretch out an ear, and hear Nubian Maria’s plea of sustainable support. To dedicate my time and energy to working in South Darfur for 4 months is just the first step to a long journey back home. It is my hope that my work is a contribution to peace and development in South Sudan. If we can come together as a society & related affiliates , I believe we can facilitate sustainable projects to end stigma, suffering and danger affecting women, children and the youth in South Sudan.
Nubian Maria is likened to the ever-green, deep-rooted and globally available Eucalyptus tree. She maintains an energy like is of no other’s. Her well of joy and giving sustains that of her children and the people who depend on her at her camp. Her hair is luscious, thick and shines with a glimmering sheen. Nubian Maria’s beauty gives more than it takes. Her daughters look up to her wishing only that when they grow up, their crown will shine as winsomely as their mama’s. When you call on Nubian Maria, she responds and listens to your requiem. Her suppliers find her dependable and steadfast.
Despite of these reliable characteristics, lack lurks around Nubian Maria. Still young enough to have an active reproductive system, Nubian Maria counts her coins making sure that her children & stakeholders have their share first. With financial constraints, she keeps her people first, and herself last. Knowing that her menstrual hygiene is key to live a healthy unsullied manner of living, Nubian Maria lacks efficient sanitary essentials. Knowing that regardless of her situation she still needs to maintain high standards of hygiene, she finds alternative measures.
Old blankets, pieces of mattress, old clothes, these are some of the period collecting methods Nubian Maria manages her menstruation cycle with. Regardless of doing the best that she can for her family and community, there is no reciprocity of her hard work, exertion and commitment. It is the right time to remember all the women in our lives who do the best they can for our growth and success. Many are the times when we forget the simple, but important acts of kindness done to us by Nubian Maria — a symbol of motherhood in our society.
By recalling what essentials our mothers and fellow women need in order to live a full life with dignity is our prerogative. Sanitary essentials should be made available to women and girls in Internally Displaced Persons Camps, public schools, and parastatal facilities. It is the right time to use our privilege to check ourselves and know that without these essentials, living in dignity becomes a utopia. The sun rises and sets, but regardless of her strain, Nubian Maria awakens us still.
a fictional story by MremboSafi
