May 8 Update: Samaritan’s Purse has unloaded the recently airlifted heavy-duty tarps and placed them aboard a truck convoy destined for the Kordofan region of Sudan. Tens of thousands of displaced Sudanese people have fled there to escape armed conflict in their country.
On May 6, Samaritan’s Purse airlifted more than 1,200 rolls of emergency shelter material aboard our DC-8 to assist more than 42,000 of these displaced people. These suffering families in the Kordofan region will soon face the country’s rainy season in makeshift shelters constructed in an ever-growing settlement camp. The heavy-duty tarp from Samaritan’s Purse will strengthen their small stick-built homes and provide more reliable protection from the elements.
“People in Sudan are starving, and they need help now,” said Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham. “We have to act quickly because the rainy season is coming. We are airlifting shelter material and will continue to send in convoys of food to the region for as long as the roads are passable. Please pray for these families.”
Conflict between government forces and a rebel militia group over the past year has caused widespread destruction across the country and led to millions of innocent civilians fleeing their homes in what’s being called the worst mass displacement crisis in the world.
More than 600,000 people have sought refuge in the Kordofan region and are now living in makeshift stick shelters in overwhelmed camps. The airlift of emergency shelter material will provide families with a dry place to live and sleep. Without adequate shelter, families are vulnerable to illness and other hardships.
Since April, Samaritan’s Purse has been running truck convoys into the area carrying food and nutrient-dense supplements. We have been able provide more than 2,600 tons of food for starving people—including mothers and babies.
Drought and a plague of locusts devastated harvests and food supplies, forcing the already-suffering families to fight for their lives and find anything that would provide nutrients—rummaging for seeds, weeds, branches, and leaves to consume.
People in Sudan are starving, and they need help now. We are airlifting shelter material and will continue to send in convoys of food to the region for as long as the roads are passable. Please pray for these families.
Samaritan’s Purse currently has more than 6,000 tons of food en route to the remote area in multiple convoys and more trucks are being loaded. Each food basket contains enough corn, beans, salt, and oil to sustain a family for a month. Severely malnourished children can also receive special nutrient-dense peanut paste. We are also providing mobile medical care in internal displacement camps.
Please continue to pray for these hurting families in Sudan that God would protect them and that they would experience His love for them in the midst of this crisis.
Samaritan's Purse has been helping the war-ravaged Sudanese and South Sudanese people since 1997, providing food, shelter, clean water, medical care, and other aid in crisis situations. Your gift will help meet physical and spiritual needs by providing desperately-needed assistance to those impacted by the 2023 civil war.