On Women’s Day… Sudanese women journalists stand in solidarity with “life makers”

Sudan.. Tea sellers have suffered from persecution by the “former regime” authorities

According to journalist writer Sabah Muhammad al-Hassan, women working in various professions in Al-Jaraed Street in Khartoum constitute a microcosm of Sudanese women who have come to play major roles in Sudanese society in light of the current economic conditions, as they work more than 10 hours a day in arduous professions such as selling tea and other businesses. Through which they were able to raise their sons and daughters properly, and they graduated from among them doctors, engineers, journalists and jurists..

Al-Hassan told Sky News Arabia that Sudanese female journalists learned many meanings of courage, dedication, strength, honesty and self-esteem from tea sellers and workers in other simple professions, through daily contact with them. Al-Hassan stressed the need for the state to give the necessary attention to this important segment and to provide appropriate conditions to carry out their work instead of harassing them and putting obstacles in front of the honorable work that they do and thousands of families announce their income..

Al-Hassan indicated that the idea of ​​using International Women’s Day to honor women working in Al-Jarida Street came to return the favor to them and the great sacrifices they make for their families..

Indeed; Thousands of women in Sudan work in hard daily professions, such as selling tea and foods in the streets near gatherings of employees and workers in various regions of the capital, Khartoum, and other cities of the country. This segment of female workers contributes greatly to alleviating the living burdens on their families in a country where about 70 percent of the population lives below the poverty line..

During the recent period, there have been many Sudanese female journalists and activists who have devoted their efforts to defending the rights of women working in simple professions. who have been subjected to systematic harassment over the past years. Halima Siddiq, a tea seller in one of the main streets crowded with the movement of pedestrians, employees and workers, says that she was exposed daily to something like extortion, as her tools, chairs and small tables are sometimes confiscated without any logical reason, which exposes her to great losses that increase the suffering of her family, who include 4 in universities and need daily Travel expenses, books, etc. And Halima was sometimes forced to borrow money to cover the fines and losses before returning the next day to work in the hope that the campaigns would not reach her..

And in the same race; Awadiya Koko, one of the most famous food vendors in Khartoum, and honored by the US State Department in the year 1016 among the 10 bravest women in the world for her defense of the rights of tea and food vendors, stresses that tea vendors deserve respect and free rein for them to work freely, as most of them sponsored families that graduated doctors, engineers, male and female workers. in various professions. Awadiya estimates that the number of university students who are supported by tea and food vendors is more than 9,000 students. She points out that the profession of selling tea and foods contributed to the graduation of thousands of doctors, engineers, teachers, lawyers and others. She stresses that those who choose this tiring profession, which requires working for more than 10 hours under the blazing summer sun, winter frosts and autumn rains, should be treated with respect and not be treated in the unfair manner that the local authorities used to treat them in the past.