In 2009 11 year old Jamila* left her family in Jabal Awlia in Khartoum. She came to Port Sudan and ended up living on the street. In September 2012, only 14 years old, and only 150 cm tall, she gave birth to a little baby boy. She was in bad shape and was admitted to hospital. In Sudan, the hospitals provide you with a bed and medical attention, but only lifesaving medicines. Medicines for your treatment and food you have to provide yourself, and if you are too sick to go to the pharmacy or get your own food, this is the family´s responsibility.
At the time when Jamila was in the hospital very sick, with no family members to look after her, her friends from the street showed up as a light of hope. They organized themselves into night and day shifts; one group stayed at her side, and the other group went out to get what Jamila needed of food and medicines.
After two days, they smuggled her out of the hospital because the health care wasn’t good enough. They brought her to Nida'a al Hayat´s center for children living and working on the streets. She was in a very poor state and looked very sick. Her baby didn’t have any blankets or clothing to protect him from the weather. Jamila smelled bad, and she couldn´t remember when she had latest taken a shower. She was so tired, she did not have any appetite, and she had a very high fever.
Nida'a al Hayat provided the baby with blankets and clothes, and Jamila with three clean outfits. One of the volunteers helped her to clean her self. Then we sent her to a private clinic where she got decent medical help, Nida'a al Hayat paid all the costs, and Jamila could recover.
The story of Jamila and her baby boy is a story about cooperation and it shows how the children and youth living on the streets cooperate and organize them selves to take care of each other. To us in Nida'a al Hayat such situations and stories motivate us to continue helping them and try our best to provide them with their necessary needs.
*Jamila is not her real name. The name has been changed to protect her privacy.
Written by Mahmoud Sharif