Chapter Three
4
Days at Home
When I arrive in Khartoum from abroad, I usually spend about a month there before setting out for home. This time I was delayed by the need to follow my uncle Awad’s treatment. At four in the morning, while Khartoum was deep in sleep, the bus carried us from Haj Youssef and stopped at Kandahar Market west of Libya Market. I enjoyed the journey with my niece, her two lovely children, and my close friend Fikri Qarti. We drank milk tea with hot red zalabia and headed north, stopping only in Al-Qolid for breakfast, which we supplemented with delicious flatbread we carried with us.
Inside Dongola Al-Ardi, near the main market, a group of our Dongolawi people got off. We understand the context of their speech despite the difficulty of some words. In Kadrma, some passengers left, and we resumed the journey, admiring on our right the magnificent tourist resort that is a valuable addition to the whole region, built by the loyal Shadhli Abdel-Karim—may God bless him and expand his provision. At last we reached our mother Dalqo. There were embraces and beauty, and what happiness. Our relatives continued to come, filled with longing and affection, which filled us in turn.
The next day I went through the entire village, house by house, after spending my first day quickly fulfilling duties of condolence and sympathy. Over the following two days I visited more than one hundred homes in Greater Dalqo, which includes the neighbouring communities of Dalqo, Saadankourti, and Aqtari. My dear sister Hajar accompanied me. In every place we were overwhelmed by love, prayers, and requests to stay longer; had we accepted every invitation, we would not have finished in a week.
The visits included the markets, government units, and the hospital, which is experiencing a leap forward thanks to the mobilisation of generous people. At the schools I happened to pass during the breakfast break, I teased the teachers that breakfast in the beautiful old days was full of delicacies, while things had fallen to plain beans—if they could be found—and they dissolved into laughter.
I was pleased to join a meeting at the College of Technology to discuss how to complete its ambitious projects. I also held a broad meeting at Dalqo Club to exchange views on the issues of the homeland and the region and how to address them. The response was strong and the discussion purposeful. Khalifa Saif Allah confirmed that he had travelled through the areas east of Dalqo and found broad lands, some fertile enough for agriculture. This supported what has long been repeated: our fathers used to bring straw from there in rainy years, where herders grazed their animals.
The two meetings were attended by loved ones who had come from Khartoum, including Tayfour Abu Al-Qasim, Abdel-Wahid Ezz Al-Din, Kamel Musa, Khalid Mohammed Osman, Fikri Qarti, and Maysara Ibrahim. Their presence brought a special brightness…