This Community Kitchen in Sudan is Setting an Inspiring Example for Grassroots Humanitarian Aid

Every morning at 5 a.m., women line up outside a mosque in Sururab, North Omdurman, to volunteer at the local community kitchen. Work starts at 5:30 a.m. In giant pots, the women cook lentils with pasta or rice four days a week, and beans twice a week. Their colorful

toubs and cheerful song, when collectively mixing dough or dishing out food in a row of bowls and containers lined on the ground, betray the seriousness of their work: feeding 350 families who depend on their services. Once a week, they get to serve meat with rice and vegetables.

The neighborhood of Sururab is located 40 kilometers (around 25 miles) north of the capital Khartoum in relative safety from the ongoing military conflict, and with a running market and access to supplies. In the first weeks of the war, it became a common destination for people from the tri-city Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri, and later Gezira state, to flee to.

Soon, Alrasheed was looking for a more sustainable way to help, since many displaced families do not have basic kitchen wares, and providing people with food items proved more expensive than feeding them ready-made meals. He helped open Sururab Community Kitchen on May 8, 2024.

“In the 288 days that the kitchen has been operational, no one returned with an empty bowl,” says Alrasheed. “We’ve successfully managed to serve every family that reached us. We try to make nutritionally balanced meals and provide an adequate amount of food for each family that is proportional to the family’s size.”

Sustaining the initiative costs around $658.54 per week. “The constant challenge is securing the required funds to keep the kitchen running,” says Alrasheed. “[We] depend on donations and support, and on the profits from selling my photos. Our total dependence is on the community, whether it is the local community here in Sururab or the Sudanese people and Sudanese abroad.”

The Sudanese NGO Hadhreen has been one of the kitchen’s biggest supporters by covering the supplies needed for 21 days each month. But when this main supporter could suddenly not provide the necessary materials to sustain the kitchen, Alrasheed had to start a fundraising campaign. “More than 70 percent of families depend entirely on these meals,” he says.

February 28 will mark the beginning of Ramadan, the Holy Month of Fasting in Islam. This sacred time for Muslims increases the need for food at night to balance daylight abstinence. “People need two meals, breakfast and dinner, to be able to fast,” explains Alrasheed. He hopes to provide extra breakfast for children who cannot fast yet and, at the very least, increase the quantity of food in the meals. “All this while taking into account not to exhaust the volunteer women,” he stresses.

Rooted in Sudanese cultural practices of neighborhood support and extraordinary generosity, community kitchens and Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) have been crucial civilian actors for lifesaving mutual aid and fighting the risk of acute hunger and famine in the country. They emerged from the structures of Resistance Committees which activists established during the protests that ousted longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir. For their grassroots structures and collaborative approach to effective humanitarian assistance, ERRs recently topped the personal list of Henrik Urdal, Director of Peace Research Institute Oslo, for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.

“I've seen our capacity to do good even with the rarest resources and in the toughest times,” asserts Alrasheed. “I see people who lost everything and are still willing to give and help one another.”

Sudan has long suffered from deep-rooted dynamics of tribal and ethnic divisions, colorism and classism. Reflecting on the changing conversations and relationships between people, caused by their dire circumstances, Alrasheed’s most important lesson has been to witness how war equalized the society around him.

“Fatima from West Darfur and Hala from Khartoum work together in perfect harmony, and this ever-changing team operates like a family,” he says. “Here, no one cares about where a colleague comes from. What matters is that there’s work to do, and we are here to do it and help people.”

Beyond the daily meals, the Sururab Community Kitchen helps families with medical needs, such as covering medication and surgeries. They assist with travel arrangements and support with school tuition. Doctors, barbers and mental health professionals offer their services as the kitchen grows into a community center of mutual aid.

The kitchen also holds regular outreach days. “These days are about more than just assistance; they’re a way to lighten the mood and give people a break from the constant stress of war,” says Alrasheed. “Singers have come to spend time with us, sharing their voices and bringing moments of joy. These gatherings remind us that even in the hardest times, we can still come together, support one another, and hold on to our humanity.”

This life-saving and life-affirming work is entirely done through crowdfunding. If you would like to help ensure the continued existence of Sururab Community Kitchen, consider buying one of Alrasheed’s photographs or simply donating through his PayPal mazin.alzain@gmail.com (bank transfer is also available). And always: Keep Eyes On Sudan.