A "beautiful and horrendous and generous moment." Aid organization leader reflects on visit to Sudan

 

In April, Canadian Foodgrains Bank executive director Andy Harrington was in Sudan to draw attention to the terrible food crisis in that country—over 21 million are facing acute hunger. 

While there, he visited a camp for people displaced by the conflict in Port Sudan, one of 50 such camps in that city. 

While walking through the camp, a resident approached Harrington with a plate of homemade pastries and offered one to him. His first thought was to say no. “This is a place where there's nothing,” he said, adding it didn’t seem right to eat in front of people who were hungry. 

But before Harrington could decline, a staff member from a local Sudanese aid group who was with him intervened, whispering: “’You must take one. It is culturally really important for you to eat this.’” 

And he did. “It was incredibly delicious,” he said. “But it was also ironic that she was feeding me in a place of absolute devastation where there was no food . . . it was a beautiful and horrendous and generous moment all at the same time.” 

For Harrington, her hospitality and generosity was a reminder of the need for Canadians to also be generous in helping people in Sudan.

Read my story about Harrington's visit to Sudan, and the hunger crisis there, in Canadian Affairs. 

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