Heam Mohamad is a Sudanese Canadian raised in Calgary, a mother of four, returning student and owner of Heam Sweets.
Balancing school, motherhood, and running a business is challenging, especially while worrying about loved ones in her home country at war.
The war in Sudan has affected her personal life.
Video: Calgary Journal videographer Laila Malik caught up with Mohamed and Elhussein to learn more about the war’s effect
“It’s so hard to focus on something when you’re trying to finish assignments or tests because you’re just thinking of people back there… so your mind just sits there and wonders if they’re okay, are they safe, are they not,” said Mohamad.
Mohamad also volunteers at Iqraa Academy, a weekend Quran and Arabic school which has a majority of Sudanese children.
“I wanna be involved in my community, I wanna help out as much as I can, and I wanna give back to the community… in any way I can help my community, I am always there,” said Mohamad.
Sudanese Canadians are not alone in their concern. Mariam Elhussein, a Sudanese Canadian and assistant professor at Mount Royal University, explained how Sudanese immigrants and refugees in Canada have amplified their efforts to raise awareness about Sudan.
“Despite the distance, despite the time difference, they tried to relate, they tried to raise awareness to talk about what’s going on in the country,” said Elhussein. “This didn’t just start with the current war; it started since 2019. Sudanese Canadians were very active in terms of raising awareness about the protests and peaceful demonstrations that were ongoing in Sudan in the effort of overthrowing the previous government.”
Elhussein said that feeling connected to Sudan’s war can be natural and even healthy, rather than entirely negative.
“Conflict is conflict, human crisis is definitely something we see in the news; you cannot just look at it, respond to it, and just ignore it,” said Elhussein. “You are affected by it in terms of your own well-being, and I think that’s even healthy, the fact that we feel for each other, we are related to human suffering, and we are trying to end this even by speaking about this.”
Mohamad described how she balances life in Canada with concern for Sudan.
“I balance it all out, it’s a good balance, I teach them about Canada too, we have to respect the country we live in, the rules, and we have to always be aware of what’s going on also in Sudan and respect what they’re going through,” said Mohamad.