Are you feeling down in the dumps? Well, at least you’re not living in Sudan right now – talk about bleak and dangerous. Ghazali Babiker, head of the Sudanese chapter of Doctors Without Borders, is feeling the pain. He runs a medical charity that operates in conflict zones and has dozens of healthcare workers in Khartoum (the capital city). But they haven’t been able to treat a single case since the fighting started on Saturday. That’s got to be bad for business.
Even though Babiker’s staff are seasoned pros in danger zones, they haven’t been able to treat a single case since the fighting broke out. And trying to move supplies to hospitals on the brink of collapse is proving impossible. “We’re paralyzed, we cannot move,” he said. Ouch, that’s got to hurt.
While the situation in Sudan is bad enough for those trapped in their homes, it’s worse for those trying to help. Babiker’s aunt and her family are locked down in their home across the Nile from Khartoum city. They’re stuck in a windowless room since Saturday. It’s almost like living with a gun to their heads, Babiker said. That’s just terrible.
The fighting between rival military factions seeking control of Sudan is so intense that bullet holes now litter the walls of Babiker’s aunt’s house. Damn, they’re really shooting for the stars with all that ammo. Babiker is keeping in contact with his trapped relatives via the phone. But that’s little comfort to him, especially since his agency has 50 staff members waiting to be deployed with lifesaving supplies. Unfortunately, the streets are too dangerous to travel, Babiker said. That’s like being stuck in a video game level that’s just too tough to beat.
The Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors revealed that three operational hospitals in the area are on the brink of collapse (not to mention many of their staff members). Babiker said he hears that staff there are “exhausted, overwhelmed, and running short on supplies.” The situation sounds positively dire.
Right now, Babiker’s staff and their supplies are safe, but he’s worried that fuel shortages may mean that many medicines stored in warehouses go bad due to the soaring temperatures, hat are expected to reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) on Wednesday. That’s gonna make people feel hotter than a Tijuana hot sauce festival.
It’s not just the Khartoum area where Babiker’s team is needed. In El Fasher, Darfur, his staff treated 220 wounded civilians, but 34 of them died from their injuries. That’s gotta make everyone feel terrible. And in Nyala, the capital of the region, a warehouse owned by Doctors Without Borders and stocked with medical supplies was looted. “Nobody was injured in the attack,” he said, “but they took everything.” That’s like a really bad game of hide and seek where you can’t even protect your stuff.
Serious News: nytimes
