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Sudan: The Forgotten North

Related Pulitzer Center Reporting

Northern Sudan is a region that has largely been ignored, eclipsed by rebellion in Darfur and a civil war in the south that lasted two decades. But in villages along the Nile in the Nubian desert, far from the conflicts in other parts of the country, Sudanese people are living their own struggles.

Many of these villages have no electricity, no clean water, little infrastructure but run-down schools and empty health clinics. Newly-wed men leave their wives at home to travel abroad, earning money to support their families. Many women are left to raise their children alone. "WE are the muhamisheen," or the neglected, many northerners have said.

The conflict in Darfur is far away and irrelevant here. The Africans and Arabs are both Muslim, and the distinction between their racial heritage means little. They live together peacefully, sending their children to the same schools, operating businesses together and inter-marrying.

The northern Arabs say their race has not earned them any points with the Arab-dominated government; they say they are neglected all the same.

Heba Aly travels to the northern communities of Sudan to explore what the realities of life there say about race and about the real root of problems in Sudan.

Related Pulitzer Center Reporting

Sudan: War Child

South Sudan: Rebuilding Hope

Darfur-Sudan

Another Darfur? The Beja's armed struggle on the Eastern Front

This project is part of the Pulitzer Gateway Fragile States, an interactive educational portal that helps tell the stories of the dangers weak states around the world pose -- and also the international interventions that appear to be making a difference. Fragile States also includes reporting from Pulitzer projects in East Timor, Bosnia, Haiti, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and Guinea-Bissau. Join the conversation by sharing your story about fragile states. Learn more about the Pulitzer Center's Global Gateway.

Heba Aly

Heba Aly is a Canadian freelance journalist interested in international and human rights issues. She has worked for Canada's largest daily newspaper, The Toronto Star; its national broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC); and various other Canadian newspapers ... Click on name above for full bio.