Songs For Sudan
In 2019 I wrote ‘Home, a song for Sudan’ after the Khartoum massacre of 118 civilians and the rape of 70 unarmed peaceful protestors. It was being released on Bandcamp for song sales and donations to our fundraising campaign on Givengain to be used to:
Evacuate members of our DFC Sudan community
Support others who I know of (through my friends) to get to safety
Provide mental health activities for displaced people to aide the trauma release, self-compassion and healing needed when rebuilding their lives
I am very grateful to the School of Arts, English and Languages (AEL) and specifically the team at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast where I am Visiting Scholar for hosting our inaugural Songs for Sudan Benefit Concert on May 24th, 2023 to help people affected by the war in Sudan.
Khartoum was my from 2018 - 2020 and every single person I worked with there had to flee from their homes. All proceeds received by eduSOIL provides people from Khartoum with funds to evacuate and help them rebuild their lives through mental health support sessions. There was live music by Peter Wilson (aka Duke Special) as well as Shiva Badiei, Omid and Omid.
I performed her recently released single 'Home, a song for Sudan' and was joined by Chip Bailey and Paul Kane from the OTH Music Collective for more of her original songs. A range of Sudanese protest art was shared with personal testimonies from the artists themselves as well as members of the local Sudanese community in Belfast. While sharing information about the event at Queen's, I met Ayah Aljunaid (Assistant Supervisor, Queen's Students Union) and was introduced to Zeinab Abdelraham (Research Fellow, Centre for Public Health) At the concert, both Ayah and Zeinab joined me in conversations to talk about what is happening in Sudan, the effect the conflict is having on people's lives, the role protest art played in the Sudanese Revolution as well as African Wealth and hopes for peace and prosperity in Sudan. The programme began with videos of Sudanese protest chants and freedom songs and ended with a lively drumming session and the chanting of 'Freedom, peace, justice' for the people of Sudan.