Stories

Widows and Eid Stories: Between the Pain of Loss and the Hardship of Life

Sudan Media Forum

By Omaima Saeed, Gezira – (Radio Banat)

With the echo of gunfire and the extinguishing of safety’s light, many women in Sudan lost their husbands to the war. What remained are widows carrying heavy hearts filled with grief and shoulders burdened with responsibility.

In Gezira State, as in much of Sudan, the war has taken husbands from their wives, leaving women to bear the weight of life alone. Every day, they struggle to secure food for their children in an increasingly harsh reality.

One widow recalls, her voice trembling: “After my husband was killed, I felt as if the air itself had become heavy, and the streets could no longer contain me. There was no one left to support me or extend a helping hand. Even getting medicine for my children became a distant dream.”

In the homes of widows, tears of loss mingle with the rituals of Eid. There is no joy, no decorations—only a heavy silence and painful memories. Children watch their peers buying new Eid clothes, while they must make do with last year’s garments, as their mothers try to mask tears with faint smiles.

Another widow who lost her husband in the war says: “He was everything to me—the father, the brother, the support. When he was gone, I felt the world had shut its doors in my face. Today, I try to be both mother and father, defying hunger, poverty, and despair for the sake of my children. Praise be to God in all circumstances.”

Despite the suffering, some widows still try to create a small sense of Eid—preparing a modest meal or lighting a candle near the photo of a loved one lost. But the absence remains overwhelming, and nothing can fill the emptiness.

These are the Eid stories inside widows’ homes, where days of joy turn into moments of remembrance, where hope depends on charitable initiatives and acts of compassion that may ease the weight of their burdens.

• This report is published by the Sudanese Media Forum and its member institutions, prepared by Radio Banat, to shed light on the plight of widows who lost their husbands in the war. Left alone to face life’s hardships amid grief and poverty, they nevertheless demonstrate resilience—blending loss with hope, and making modest attempts to bring Eid spirit to their children, while relying on the possibility of kindness to alleviate their suffering.