This family needs their house

Every morning when he wakes up, Sudanese farmer Abdulrahman Hamid Mohammed El Zubier drinks his morning tea and then heads out to collect wood to re-build his house.

Abdulrahman’s house was destroyed by heavy rains last year that caused flooding in West Kordofan state, Sudan, where he and his wife and 14 children live.

The rain was a blessing in a country that can often be caught in drought, he said. But it also caused a lot of damage. Many buildings were damaged or destroyed, including classrooms, health facilities and more than 3,000 homes, along with more than 400 latrines. At the same time, about a dozen water sources were damaged, cropland inundated and livestock killed.

“I was frustrated when I lost my house because I have a big family and we didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Abdulrahman said.

No lives were lost in his family, and all his animals made it through, but they lost all their belongings. “It was a hard time,” he said.

Today the family lives in a temporary structure made of hay that was made drier and safer with assistance from Islamic Relief through its partnership with the Humanitarian Coalition and the Government of Canada.

“May God bless them, they came to our aid,” Abdulrahman said of how Islamic Relief provided help for him and others in the community.

“They distributed plastic sheets in which we took shelter until we can rebuild our houses.”

Along with providing help with shelter, families in the village received mosquito nets and hygiene kits, as well getting assistance to rehabilitate damaged water sources and latrines.

Today Abdulrahman and his family are settling in. “I thank them for their support,” he said. “This village is our home. We don’t want to leave it.”