Returning to Khartoum three years later

Nahid Ali Awadelseed
Plan International
After three years of forced closure due to conflict, Plan International has officially reopened its office and resumed operations in Khartoum. A significant step in reconnecting with communities affected by Sudan’s prolonged crisis.

For many Sudanese staff, this return is not just operational. It is deeply personal. For Nahid Ali, Plan International Communications Manager in Sudan, returning to Khartoum is both a professional milestone and an emotional homecoming shaped by loss, resilience, and an unshaken belief in rebuilding.

Returning to Khartoum after three years of war is not an ordinary experience. It is a journey filled with heavy emotions, painful memories, and hope all at once. I knew that I was not only returning to a city exhausted by conflict but also returning to a part of my soul that had remained there throughout those difficult years.

When I arrived in Khartoum, I felt as though I was opening new doors of hope within myself. I truly believe that this return is not the end of pain, but the beginning of a new chapter of humanitarian work alongside colleagues and aid workers who never stopped serving people despite the harsh circumstances. I believe that we can still make a real difference in people’s lives and continue reaching those in need as they recover from Sudan’s prolonged crisis.

A home changed forever
The hardest moment was opening the door to my home. The floors were stripped of nearly everything. But in that silence, memories rushed back all at once. I remembered those same floors that once sheltered us while we hid from the sounds of bullets and shelling.

Standing by the window where I once watched my neighbours head to work each morning was a reminder of a life interrupted by war. Memories of the night I fled washed over me. It was 1am and I left with my two children: my six-year-old daughter and newborn son, just 21 days old.

Before leaving, I left all the doors inside the house open and when my little daughter asked why, I told her with all the hope I could gather that it was because we would come back very soon. That night, fear followed us everywhere.

As we boarded a bus to safety, my daughter realised she had left behind her favourite doll. She began to cry. I told her the doll could be replaced. But what broke my heart was knowing I could not give her the comfort she needed in that moment. As my daughter cried and my newborn began to wail, I tried to create calm amid the chaos. I sang a traditional lullaby until they both fell asleep in my arms.

Why this return matters
Today, as Plan International resumes its work in Khartoum, we do not just need to rebuild infrastructure, but restore lives disrupted by years of conflict. Many of us, as Sudanese people, have lost a large part of our hearts through the loss of loved ones during this war. Yet despite everything, we have not lost hope, nor have we lost the ambition to build a new Sudan for future generations.

Each of us carries wounds that may never fully heal, no matter how much we try to rebuild our lives or return to who we once were, because losing loved ones leaves an emptiness that cannot truly be replaced.

We will look at Sudan through the eyes of our children – children who did not witness the blessings and stability we once had before the war. And for that reason, we will work tirelessly to ensure that our sons and daughters receive every right they deserve: peace, education, safety, dignity, and the opportunity for a better life.

This is the driving force behind Plan International’s return: to reach children and families at a critical moment of recovery, and to support them as they begin again.

Stronger than before
Standing in my home once more, I reflect not only on what was lost, but on what remains. The war may have changed us, but it did not break us.

As our operations resume in Khartoum, humanitarian workers are not separate from the crisis – we are living it, surviving it, and still showing up every day to support others. And we will rise stronger than before.