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Getting To Know Omima Jabal: The Teacher Who Continues To Spread Knowledge In The Middle of A War

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True potential finds more opportunities for awakening during trying times than it does when everything is calm and still. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” 

We continue to witness the youth of Sudan painting stories of courage, valour, and resolve to stand against the odds of the war that is ravaging our beloved country. It is believed that actions of building and aiding the community will always speak louder than the sounds of gunfire and bombs, and life is fated to bloom once more no matter how closely death looms.

Our story today talks about Omima’s journey from Khartoum to Sinjah (a town about 60 km south of Sennar) and her choice to face loss and fear with faith and unbending will.

Getting To Know Omima

Omima Omer Jabal studied the English language and graduated as a translator. She holds a Master’s Degree in business administration and has worked as a Program and Events Manager. She has always volunteered in neighbourhood activities through valuable contributions, including her work with the kids’ cancer assembly named Tadaiy. 

On the fifth day of the ongoing war, as the sounds of missiles drew closer to her home, some falling in her neighbourhood, Omima and her family decided to move. “We took only our personal papers. The road was full of leftovers from the previous day’s battle, and lots of damaged cars. We moved with our own car. We reached Sinjah after sunset and settled at my grandmother’s house.” 

Omima described the psychological toll she experienced during the war as being very difficult to adapt to. She spent more than a month getting herself together and practising her favourite hobbies such as writing and visiting natural sites.

Adding Value and Making A Real Change

When we asked Omima about what drove her to bring the idea of holding English lessons and teaching the people, she mentioned that she wanted to contribute something meaningful to the community first and foremost. She added that this helped her with her mental well-being in the new situation since doing something she loves has always uplifted her spirit and made her stronger. 

She had help in her educational initiative from two people: Hekma Hassan, who helped her start from scratch by planning, choosing topics, and figuring out how they were going to manage everything required. Rabei Yagoub supported her initiative by helping teach the kids some of the classes. 

The challenges they faced during this journey ranged from the environment itself since the classes were very traditional and contained only blackboards and chalk, the curriculum that they would teach, as this needed to be readjusted to fit the level of the students, as well as making sure the lessons could be enjoyable so that people would continue attending her classes.

News Spread Like Wildfire! 

As soon as Omima began telling villagers about the classes, everyone was excited to attend, knowing that she was a self-taught English learner as well as how incredible her continuous support for the community has been. 

Omima and her team started spreading the word in the village mosques, and the response was amazing, with over 200 individuals joining her lessons in the first few days. 

She held them at AlRasheed primary school, and many people and their families came to enjoy her fun, creative, and practical way of teaching!

Omima was impressed with the results and commented that it exceeded her expectations, with over 60% of the attendees successfully achieving the objectives of the lessons and the number of new students eager to learn continuing to grow and reaching more than 500. 

The program is still ongoing to this very day.

Omima’s Future Vision For The Youth of Sudan 

When questioned about the future vision for the transformative power of Sudanese youth and its impact on the community, Omima expressed that “the vision depends on finding a destination; what is Sudan to us? Where do we want to be? It depends on our identity, knowledge and utilisation of our resources and mostly our love for Sudan itself.” 

Omima emphasised that the number of youth in Sudan represents the majority of the population and that they are the main factor in making real changes happen throughout the entire country. 

By aligning all of these joint efforts together to create a healthy community that recognises its needs whilst adhering to its values, a wonderful future for Sudan awaits with all the love and kindness we deserve.

We enjoyed talking to Omima, her vibrant spirit filled us with joy and hope! We wish her the best in her educational initiative and look forward to hearing more from her in the future!

READ NEXT: The Importance of Challenging a Dark Today with a Bright Vision for a Better Tomorrow

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