A Touch of Home in Exile: Mama Christine’s Journey in Cairo
When conflict erupted in Khartoum on April 15, 2022, between the Sudanese Defence Forces (SDF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), thousands of families were forced to flee their homes. Among them was Mama Christine, a mother of seven who is married to an evangelist, who lost everything in the chaos.
Life in Cairo was harsh and uncertain. Like many Sudanese refugee men in the city, Mama Christine’s husband struggled to find work to support his family.
One evening, while attending a Sudanese Christian Fellowship Gathering in Cairo, she learned about CMS-Africa’s Women Empowerment Program (WeP). The initiative was organized by Pastor Kuot Juma, a CMS-Africa programmes champion who was also stranded in Cairo while seeking medical treatment for his daughter.
Together with Joseph Noel, CMS-Africa’s Country Coordinator for Sudan and South Sudan, Kuot arranged an online WeP training for the Sudanese refugee women.
Through this programme, Mama Christine rediscovered her identity in Christ and refined the hairdressing skills that God had already placed within her.
“Through this programme, I was able to anchor my faith deep in Christ. Since we were challenged to find something to do that could give us some income, I decided to put into use the hairdressing skills I had already acquired while in Sudan,” she recalls.
Recognizing that many Sudanese women in Cairo longed for a touch of home, she took small steps of faith and opened a salon which she named Man Nyrownag, in the Ain Shames area of Cairo.
Today, Mama Christine can provide for her family’s needs and help restore dignity to the Sudanese refugee women who walk through her salon doors.
Like Mama Christine, there are many Sudanese and South Sudanese women stranded in exile who need to be empowered, and with your support, we can help these women nurture and deploy their talents even in the challenging environments they find themselves in.
Life in Cairo was harsh and uncertain. Like many Sudanese refugee men in the city, Mama Christine’s husband struggled to find work to support his family.
One evening, while attending a Sudanese Christian Fellowship Gathering in Cairo, she learned about CMS-Africa’s Women Empowerment Program (WeP). The initiative was organized by Pastor Kuot Juma, a CMS-Africa programmes champion who was also stranded in Cairo while seeking medical treatment for his daughter.
Together with Joseph Noel, CMS-Africa’s Country Coordinator for Sudan and South Sudan, Kuot arranged an online WeP training for the Sudanese refugee women.
Through this programme, Mama Christine rediscovered her identity in Christ and refined the hairdressing skills that God had already placed within her.
“Through this programme, I was able to anchor my faith deep in Christ. Since we were challenged to find something to do that could give us some income, I decided to put into use the hairdressing skills I had already acquired while in Sudan,” she recalls.
Recognizing that many Sudanese women in Cairo longed for a touch of home, she took small steps of faith and opened a salon which she named Man Nyrownag, in the Ain Shames area of Cairo.
Today, Mama Christine can provide for her family’s needs and help restore dignity to the Sudanese refugee women who walk through her salon doors.
Like Mama Christine, there are many Sudanese and South Sudanese women stranded in exile who need to be empowered, and with your support, we can help these women nurture and deploy their talents even in the challenging environments they find themselves in.