Sarah Hamza Al-Jack

Takayas of Love and Hearts that Transform

“Al-Takaya”  in Sudanese culture is the shelter by which passers pass when they are cut off for any reason, such as late arrival after transportation is interrupted, paying for the ticket, illness and inability to follow-up. There are many reasons, and it’s the same result where someone needs a place to spend hours or days before resuming his trip.

Al-Takaya is a haven where food, drink, and a place for sleep are available. The traveler finds everything he needs day and night. They are spread throughout Sudan, and in some areas they are called the house of the travelers. in normal circumstances, the number of passers is the same as these houses.

But what if the conditions are normal?

Not only are they unusual, but they are exceptional circumstances that  devoured the rich areas of Sudan out of greed, envy, and resentment to serve other agendas. Also there are many causes, and the result is the same, which is war, but this time it did not exclude an area. The rope  tightened around the strangler, and he pulled it around his own neck, committing suicide along with the entire nation. It gradually lit the fire,. It started from the heart, and it started burning. Khartoum, Madani, Al-Geneina,  Sennar Sinja etc. With every attack on a city, its inhabitants are displaced, and  one takaya  opens after another to accommodate those fleeing from the hells of war. The people there found food, drink, and shelter, and they got to know each other, then got along, and some of them even wed one another. They opened their hearts before their homes, but this does not negate what happened afterwards from greed and profiteering through rent, discrimination and unkind treatment.

But here I want to stop at this scene; houses looted, stolen, burned; their women raped and their men killed; they were displaced, and hearts were opened for them before doors, more schools were opened for them, and more squares were prepared for them. Here, I was taken back by the hearts of the women as guests and hosts, their ability to absorb the tragedy and cope with it, their ability to think about the solution, and to help implement and initiate the solution that was proposed with strength and steadfastness for days on end.  They stood up and defended their sons, husbands and daughters. They endured harm on behalf of everyone without hesitation. The media circulated the story of the woman asking the attackers to rape her instead of her daughters. they raped her and went hoping to return again to rape the girls. She endured the pain and ran away with her daughters at night.

During my journey of displacement with my family as guests at my aunt’s house in Atbara, we were welcomed and loved, considering that it is the family home, we stayed for four full months, there were strangers before us, and after us and until this moment since the outbreak of the Khartoum war in April 2023, they did not sleep a single night without guests, during my stay and before I left Sudan. we visited the schools where the takaya was set up. we found one family, not multiple families, they exchanged respect and appreciation among them, and they stood up for duty and demand. In the takaya, pregnant women gave birth, the soon to wed were married, and funerals were held for the deceased.

I will tell the story that touched me the most. There was a family consisting of a mother and her two daughters. They fled with those escaping from Khartoum to Atbara. They lived in one of the takayas in the corners of the airport district. One of them was a bride who was in the process of following her husband to another country. The second was pregnant in her last month. She  gave birth to her child as if she were among her family. All the people in that corner became mothers and sisters who took turns taking care of her and the newborn. The process of the bride to follow her husband was complete, and she had to leave to reunite with him. She had to arrive and start the process for her mother to join her. The birth mother regained her strength after 40 days from the birth, and the baby grew healthier. She insisted on continuing her journey by residing in the house of her in-laws in one of the safe cities. On this day, the birth mother went to the bus terminal to board her bus and travel. She was accompanied by her mother to say goodbye. Their farewell was unusual, it was the farewell after which there is no meeting in this life, they cried heartbroken, they were hugging in a scene that stopped by-passers . After great effort they separated from each other. The traveler rode the bus that went on its way, and the mother fell to the ground after the goodbye, and when People ran over to her and found her dead, they returned her to the takaya in the corner, where she was buried and a funeral was held for one day.

During that time, I have learned one of the most important characteristics of women in general and Sudanese women in particular, which is that they have balloon hearts, which inflate with the size of the tragedy but never pop, insert the tragedy, treat it, and then take it out, surrounded by the patience and ability by others to overcome and cross safely. That heart is a balloon-like-laboratory that treats the wounds of the soul and body.

The author of the above article, Sarah Hamza Al-Jack, is a Sudanese writer, one of the most prominent contemporary Sudanese writers, and her works include:

 Prayers Born of Mixed Roots 2009 «Story Collection»

Betrayal 2013 «novel»

Komba «collection of short stories»

Propaganda 2017 «Collection of Short Stories»

Licorice 2017 “Novel”.