A day to stay indoors

Last week had been quiet and uneventful until Friday when, as you may have heard, there were a few protests in Khartoum! I don’t think there is any need for me to outline the reasons for the protest, which are well known, but suffice to say after Friday prayers many of the local Sudanese were extremely angry – and for a good reason.

In anticipation of some disturbances, I and most other teachers were already at home. From my apartment, I had a good vantage point and could see large crowds walking in the direction of the British and German embassy, which are next door to each other.

A short while later, I could clearly see the smoke from the direction of the two embassy’s, which are about 5 minutes walk away. Unfortunately, from my balcony both buildings are obscured by a larger block, so I could not be sure exactly which embassy had the fire.

Slightly more concerning was when a small group of protesters turned off the main road and started walking towards my apartment block. However, they did pass by without incident – albeit making a lot of noise. In fact, within a couple of hours the entire city appeared to be much calmer.

Despite this, the decision was taken not to open the school on Saturday, enabling everyone to enjoy an unexpected long weekend!

I know that many people read this blog if they are considering teaching in Khartoum or moving here for another reason. So I would like to end this week by emphasising that Khartoum is very safe and the people are very friendly. I don’t have any statistics to prove this, but I am sure you are far more likely to be attacked in London that you are in Khartoum.

I would not want one unusual weekend to put anyone off from accepting a job here!