Tunisia: Faced With a Life in Limbo Part II

During my two week visit to the Shousha refugee camp on the Libyan-Tunisian border I had the fortunate opportunity of meeting several individuals who were trying to make the most out their new living situation after the Libyan civil war erupted. In part two of my series on how two young women have managed to overcome their obstacles while faced with a life in limbo I introduce twenty-year old Mowahab Abdullah Noor.

As a means of preserving her identity due to the nature of the story she reveals I opted not share her portrait but instead an artistic view of the sprawling tent city that was erected to house the thousands of economic migrants, political refugees and asylum seekers that sought refuge in Tunisia. This is her story.

My name is Mowahab Abdullah Noor and I'm twenty-years-old. I was born in 1990 and have never lived outside of Libya or ever seen my country of Sudan. My parents are from Al Fasher City in Darfur. The problems in Darfur started in 1958 when the Sudanese government started preventing Darfurian people from living a normal life like the other Sudanese by denying them access to government jobs, education in the University and there was a lot of racism.

Fearing for their life, my parents fled to the capital Khartoum and then to Tripoli in 1988 because during this time the government was attacking villages, taking women as hostages or using them as human shields and killing new born boys because they believed that once they reached adulthood they would take up arms against the central government.

There are some people that choose to close their eyes to the truth but I'll never stop sharing these stories.

While in Libya my father worked as a cook and my mother was a domestic worker for Libyan families. My two brothers and younger sister and I attended the best schools that our parents could afford and before fleeing Libya I was in my third year of University pursuing a degree in the medical field.

When the Libyan civil war broke out my family was shocked because we never thought revolutions on this scale could ever happen in the Arab world. Actually, in Tunisia and Egypt it was great to see the people take back their freedom after all those years of being oppressed but in Libya it took a bloody turn because people no longer respected the law and started raping women, taking hostages and killing people.

Eventually all the companies shut down and my father and I lost our jobs, our education was halted due to the closure of the schools and for two months we remained trapped in our house because no one was allowed to go out, especially men because they were killing any males caught on the street.

The situation became very difficult for us because we were drinking tap water, which was so salty and undrinkable but it was what we had. Whenever there was relative calm on the streets our mother would go out to the market for food but there were many days that we starved from running out of food.

As refugees we had only two options, which was to stay in Libya and risk being killed by the NATO airstrikes or be killed by the Libyans but luckily we learned that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was helping those stranded flee Libya and on the 9 May we arrived at the Shousha refugee camp in Tunisia. However, the reality of ending up in a refugee camp has been a big tragedy for our parents because they left Sudan to protect us from living this kind of life, only to find it again.

Through this experience I've learned to be strong and accept this current situation by volunteering and working with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) where I've been able to work as a nurses aid and assist their psychologists who provide mental health services to inhabitants of the camp. This opportunity has actually allowed me to gain some hands on experience with working in the medical field, which is going to be helpful for when I'm eventually resettled in a new country and can resume my studies.

Tunisia: Faced With a Life in Limbo

Photo credit: NY Times

NATO's five month bombing campaign in Libya under the guise of protecting civilians has not only caused major disruptions to the lives of thousands of Libyan civilians but it has also taken its toll on countless numbers of refugees from sub-Saharan Africa who took up refuge in Libya after fleeing violence and persecution in their own countries.

In this two part series I'll introduce two young women whose lives were turned upside down when the "Arab Spring" reached Libya, and explore how they've managed to overcome their obstacles while faced with a life in limbo.

Twenty-year-old Eiman and her family was living a fairly good life in Libya before the war hit. Her parents, originally from Darfur, fled to Libya where Eiman and her brothers and sister were born.

At the time of the conflict, Eiman was in her third year of university where she was pursuing a degree in agronomy and nutrition but those dreams had to be put on hold as the situation worsened.

"We were so scared when fighting erupted between pro and anti-Gaddafi forces on my street because we could hear the guns, people were shouting and everyone was running from one area to the next trying to find safety," explains Eiman in an interview with Her Blueprint. "The security situation became unbearable when NATO started bombing and eventually we fled to Tunisia. My father who was in Benghazi working at the time of the fighting had to flee to Egypt and we're waiting for him to join us here in Tunisia."

Located in the middle of the desert along the main Libyan coastal highway leading to Tripoli just east of the southern Tunisian border crossing of Ras Ajdir, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) run Shousha camp has become home to thousands of refugees like Eiman since the outbreak of the Libyan war.

For most inhabitants of the camp, daily life has become difficult.

Alsarah: Sudani Soul Singer

Alsarah. Photo by Carlos Ramirez

When one mentions Sudan, many things come to mind: a decades long civil war, the genocide in Darfur, and most recently, the South becoming independent from the North to form its own nation. But amongst all the trial and triumph the region has seen, Sudan has always been a place that brings forth incredible music. From the traditional sounds unique to various regions to more contemporary popular songs, Sudan's musical legacy is one of diversity and depth. And from that rich tradition comes Alsarah, a contemporary soul singer whose music is steeped in the traditional sounds of Sudan and influenced by music from various regions of Africa, the Middle East, and the United States.



Born in Sudan's capital city of Khartoum, Alsarah and her family left Sudan when she was 8 years old, and then spent 4 years in Yemen before coming to the United States in 1994. Alsarah began her musical training at age 12, and attended the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter High School in Massachusetts before going on to earn a degree in Music from Wesleyan University with a concentration in Ethnomusicology.

Alsarah and the Nubatones. Photo by Carlos Ramirez

Now based in Brooklyn, New York, Alsarah is a rising star on the world music scene. She sings with Sounds of Taraab, a band playing the traditional music of the Swahili people from Africa's eastern coastline. Taraab is a blend of African, Indian, and Arabic musical styles.

Then there's Alsarah and the Nubatones, a band that blends "a selection of Nubian 'songs of return' from the 1970s through today with original material and traditional music of central Sudan."

Alsarah has also been involved in Sudan's struggle for free and fair elections, lending her creative talents to the cause with the single "Vote" featuring Sudanese hip hop artist Oddisee. The single was released as the Sudanese people took to the polls to vote for Southern Sudan's independence from Northern Sudan.



Recently, I asked Alsarah about the secession and what she hoped it would mean for Sudan, and about how her music and message is received there.


July 9th 2011 is the historic day when South Sudan gains independence from the North. What do you hope this event will mean for the Sudanese people? What changes would you like to see occur in both the North and South?

I'm so happy for South Sudan, this marks a really momentous occasion for them. I wish them nothing but prosperity and hope we can all work towards a Pan African vision of subsaharan Africa especially. I hope
this also marks a radical change for the North with a democratic and fair election in the not too distant future. The current regime is nothing but an oppressive machine perpetuating hate in its wake, depleting the already drained resources of the country and pouring it into their private bank accounts in Switzerland. Talk about babylon...

You are considered a somewhat controversial artist in Sudan. Why is that? How do you feel about it?

Am I controversial? I have to confess that I don't actually consider myself to be radical in any way shape or form. I'm just stating the obvious as far as i'm concerned and echoing what many other Sudanese activists and citizens are saying too. Many of my songs are about love and about being open to it regardless of ethnic or religious difference. In Sudan these days even that is controversial if i don't present it with a hijab over my head and a sense of coyful shyness for being born a woman that apparently should be an inherent part of my
gender role. I think the reason most people in Sudan think I'm controversial is because I won't present myself in the mainstream way, and that is confusing in any society I suppose. But in Sudan when you do that people are quick to try and say you can't possibly be sudani....you would be amazed how many people from Sudan try to pretend i'm from somewhere else (Ethiopia is a popular choice, Uganda I've heard too)

Photo by Carlos Ramirez

What's next for you creatively? What projects are you currently working on?

Creatively this is a very exciting year for me. I'm sowing the seeds for a lot of new things I hope to come out early next year. I'm working towards creating an English language recording project with an amazing singer/songwriter and producer, Toshi Reagon. I think this will be a really exciting step for me artistically, allowing me to show a new depth of my work that I don't get to share very often. It will mark a new beginning for me. I'm also setting the ground work for a recording project with my current band The Nubatones with whom I'm having so much fun on stage these days.

Alsarah's live performances are electric, so if you have the chance to catch this woman on stage, don't miss it. Alsarah will be performing at the 7th Annual Arab American Heritage Park Festival at Prospect Park in Brooklyn on July 17th, and Alsarah and the Nubatones will perform at the 17th Annual Arab Cultural Festival in San Francisco's Union Square on October 1st. For more on Alsarah, please visit her website.

Sudan Tensions Highlight Difficulties Faced by Women in Conflict

Photo property of: Rita Willaert

Kamila, a resident of South Kordofan, fled the state’s capital of Kadugli after heavy fighting erupted in the afternoon of Sunday, June 5, in Um Dorain--a former stronghold of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) that lies some 35 kilometres southeast of Kadugli. Kamila and other residents became concerned after a large number of soldiers from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) arrived in the capital, and rumours began to spread that members of the SPLA had requested more soldiers be dispatched to the area.

“The security situation is very bad. Residents of Kadugli town fled their homes with nowhere to run, there’s no movement of people on the streets, the market has become a battleground and basic necessities like food, water and fuel for transporting civilians has run out,” explains Kamila in an interview with Her Blueprint.