Sudan: Children with special needs transform their lives

Noureldin Abdelwahid, 12, lives with his parents and 11 siblings at a gathering site for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ed Damazine, the capital of Blue Nile State, in south-east Sudan. Noureldin contracted polio when he was younger, which affected his life profoundly.

His father, Elnour, explained: "We didn’t know much about his condition, and we were also struggling economically, so we did not pay much attention to it. Unfortunately, as a result, Noureldin is living with a physical disability."

Noureldin cannot walk and can use only one arm. "When I was younger, my mother used to help me. She would bring me to the bathroom, and shower and carry me around,” he said. “But now that I’m grown up she is not able to do that anymore."

Like many vulnerable IDPs across Sudan, Elnour struggles to provide for his family and meet their basic needs. He is a daily-wage earner, which made it nearly impossible for him to buy a wheelchair for Noureldin, especially after the war erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in the capital, Khartoum, in April 2023.

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