Sudan's women break traditional rules' to survive

"In the displacement camps of Ad-Damazin in southeastern Sudan's Blue Nile State, the war is reshaping social norms and introducing new realities that are forcing Sudanese women into manual labour to survive. Rasha is a displaced mother. She has ignored old boundaries and perceptions of what a man's work is and started working as a woodcutter to feed her children. Carpentry is hard, but the axe has become an extension of my hand, Rasha told Al Jazeera Arabic."

"There are no choices left. Her story is not unique. Thousands of Sudanese women have become their families' sole breadwinners and work under harsh conditions. Rasha's earnings after a day of back-breaking labour under the sun are often enough to buy only a packet of biscuits. She spends the money on food and soap. You want soap. You want to wash, she said. As for clothes, we have given up hope on that."

"According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 30 million people from a population of 46.8 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. The population is facing acute food shortages and a nutrition crisis, especially in the Darfur and Kordofan regions in western and central Sudan. At the same time, disease outbreaks are worsening the situation."

The nearly three-year war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has devastated the country, forcing millions from their homes and destroying livelihoods. Displacement camps in Ad-Damazin and elsewhere have reshaped social norms, driving thousands of women into gruelling manual labour such as woodcutting and carpentry to provide for their families. Daily earnings are often meagre, covering only basic food and hygiene items while clothing needs go unmet. More than 30 million people require humanitarian aid, with acute food shortages and nutrition crises in Darfur and Kordofan and worsening disease outbreaks. An estimated 13.6 million people are internally displaced, and school closures have reached record lengths.

Read at www.aljazeera.com