“Takayas” .. Living Support in times of War

The war that broke out on April 15th of last year and is still raging, left behind a troubled economic and social reality, which made international reports warn of a famine surrounding Sudan like a bracelet surrounding the wrist in terms of the decrease in agricultural production and the halt of the wheel of factories, particularly food factories. These are the data of profit and loss, but the Sudanese popular heritage and traditions of solidarity and compassion have another opinion, as the heritage of the Takayas and “Dhara” defied the threats of war and extinguished a little of the fires of crises.

According to the founder of “Faka Riq” ( breakfast early in the morning)Takya project, Osman Bashir Al-Jundi, Takyas are a popular heritage created by the Quran memorization and teaching Khalwas by providing meals to students residing in the Khalwa.

He said in his interview with “Sudan Events ” that in light of the war conditions that greatly affected citizens by forcibly displacing them from their homes, destroying their work sites, and sabotaging vital service facilities, which led to their impoverishment and forced them to live in alternative locations in search of shelter.

In light of this situation, a number of volunteers called for launching initiatives to provide food for expatriates and some residents, in the “Faka Riq” Takaya  project, inspired by our values ​​of solidarity and compassion, with the addition of aspects to develop the Takayas to provide various services to serve the community through paths, most notably the food path, through which Takaya provides a daily meal for 200 families with an average of (5) individuals in the family.

It also provides a food basket according to the seasons (Ramadan, the two Eids) in addition to non-fixed support for families, and he pointed out to the medicine track through “Leek Al-Afia” ( Good health for you) initiative, where the Takaya  set up an eye treatment camp in cooperation with the World Sight Organization, paying medical bills, and facilitating surgeries. Another track is for clothing through the “Sutrat  Hal” initiative.

In this track, the Takaya provided clothes to those arriving due to the war, in addition to the development track through “Atwar” initiative, while the Takaya provides funding for economically active women with the aim of removing them from the meal distribution lines, and seeking to raise the capabilities of those active in society and develop children’s talents to mitigate the effects of the war. In the same vein, the youth of Dar Al Salam Al Maghariba area in East Nile picked up the initiative gauntlet through “Takatuf Al Khairiya” and made humanitarian efforts to help about 190 to 200 families from the area who chose to stay in the area despite the ravages of war. Volunteer Bakri said that in light of the war and the violations that the citizens of Dar Al Salam Al Maghariba area in East Nile locality were subjected to, the “Takatuf Al Khairiya Initiative” emerged as a symbol of solidarity and cooperation, as it works to provide aid and support to the people of the area through all possible means.

He indicated that the initiative began with a simple meal of “lentil “ to provide a free meal after the first month of the war, and then its efforts expanded to include providing medicines and food supplies to needy families, addition to providing serums for scorpion stings on an ongoing basis.

The initiative also worked to solve electricity and water problems by providing kerosene to operate the septic tanks, and cleaning the neighborhood by removing dirt and placing water jugs for drinking. In the field of health education, the initiative provided training courses in first aid, home nursing, home pharmacy, and English language courses.

The initiative helped patients in need of treatment travel to the states, and provided the “fasting bag” in Ramadan and brought joy to children by providing them with clothes, addition to distributing veal to families on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, as Solidarity Charity Initiative believes that humanitarian work is a message of love and peace, and always seeks to make a positive change in people’s lives.

Despite the efforts made by the volunteers, the harsh economic conditions have swept over these takayas and threaten their continuity for reasons that Osman Al-Jundi limited to the small number of supporters, with the increasing number of forcibly displaced people fleeing the areas of clashes in the areas controlled by the Rapid Support RSF Militia, amid the difficulty of crossing food supplies due to the lack of safe corridors, and in light of the high prices of food supplies that the kitchens depend on due to the collapse of the Sudanese currency against the foreign currencies circulating in Sudan, and the high prices of cooking gas, which forced the owners of the kitchens to carry out firewood campaigns that have side effects on human health and the difficulty of cutting trees.

While Bakri points out that the provision of meals has shifted to beans following the rise in lentil prices, as part of it is distributed in homes using “dardaga”, while the residents go to the meal shop to take the other part.

To get out of the bottleneck of the deteriorating situation and address the obstacles so that the kitchens that have closed their doors return and do not stop working under extremely complicated situations.

The soldier suggested that local and international organizations support the free restaurants for the volunteers’ experience in working completely until the stage of delivering the meal to those who deserve it, and organize food distribution operations for the displaced by listing them as families and handing them a disbursement card so that a family does not get an extra meal at the expense of another family, calling on the government to provide windows for reduced sales for charitable restaurants , and facilitate the passage of food supplies after inspection at the checkpoints under the supervision of the security authorities, each in its area of ​​control, to ensure that it goes to the restaurants , provided that the government contributes to providing subsidized cooking gas at cost price or providing charcoal to stop firewood operations so that the vegetation cover is not affected by the indiscriminate cutting of trees, and pointed out that the large support comes in “spare parts” from the army and citizens inside and outside, and very little from the state government due to their circumstances and the state’s lack of resources, and he said we received support from Zain and Sudanese companies during the Ramadan and Eid seasons, and he stressed that the inclusion and development of the Takayas contributes to mobilizing the citizen to be Contributing to improving himself and his country, and supporting the concept of comprehensiveness of the Takayas, activating smart partnerships with public and private institutions and service agencies, as it is an important matter that benefits society during the war period and after it.