Guardians in the Field: A Medical Mission to Sudan's Conflict Zone
A Mission Driven by Purpose
During my time at the University of Khartoum, I participated in numerous medical missions across various states in Sudan, both as a medical student and as a graduate doctor. These expeditions were organised by the Khartoum Medical Students' Association (KMSA), where passionate students, medical graduates, doctors and lab technicians volunteered to serve the most underserved communities in the nation.
Our mission was straightforward yet profoundly important: provide free medical services to the voiceless and forgotten.
Over decades, these collective efforts have reached all the states of Sudan, with each medical mission serving numerous villages and thousands of people through free health education, comprehensive assessments, laboratory investigations, and medications. The students worked for months to make each mission possible: fundraising, collecting pharmaceuticals, recruiting doctors and laboratory technicians, and -critically in Sudan's complex landscape- securing permission from local and national governments.
The goal was singular but transformative: to bring healthcare access to underprivileged villages in peripheral states where medical services were virtually non-existent.
Image: A Moment of Unity
Medical professionals —Mohammed Abdalhammed (left), Dr Khalid Altinay (middle) and Dr Sami Altalib (right)— and military personnel in Kadugli, Southern Kordofan, a snapshot of collaboration amid challenging circumstances.
Into the Heart of Conflict: The Kadugli Expedition
The most memorable mission I participated in was to Kadugli, in Southern Kordofan State—located 700 kilometres southwest of Khartoum, deep in Sudan's heartland. This wasn't just another medical outreach; it required navigating a conflict zone.
All groups travelling from Khartoum to the villages had to be accompanied by armed forces in military vehicles equipped with anti-aircraft weaponry. It was a stark reminder of the security challenges facing even humanitarian workers in Sudan's peripheral regions.
A Bold Decision
Our medical team was initially assigned to travel on the bus with civilian support staff. However, my colleagues Dr Khalid Altinay, Mohammed Abdalhammed and I insisted on travelling with the military escort in the pickup truck. Our stated reason was to experience the full mission context. In truth, my primary objective was far more personal: I wanted to understand the soldiers' perspectives, their views on politics, on civilians, on life itself. I wanted to know the human beings behind the uniform.
The soldiers were initially hesitant. After prolonged negotiations, they agreed to our unconventional request, though their primary concern remained our safety. They provided us with security briefings and explicit instructions in case of an armed attack. I remember joking with one of them: "You can just give me a gun and never mind the medical work!"
His response, delivered with warmth and humour, has stayed with me ever since: "I won't ask you for a stethoscope, and you should not ask me for a gun!"
They kept us positioned in the middle of the vehicle, positioned themselves at the perimeter, and were prepared at any moment to lay down their lives to protect us.
Image: Voicing the Pain
Doctors —Dr Sami Altalib (left) and Dr Abdallah Yousif (right)— are conducting clinical consultations in the field clinic, providing essential services to villagers in Kadugli
Humanity Beyond Uniform
During the Day: Shared Purpose
While our medical team worked tirelessly in the clinics, pharmacies, and laboratory units, conducting health education sessions and providing medications, the soldiers maintained a protective perimeter. They weren't distant; they were present and engaged.
Throughout the day, they would pass by our medical stations, asking if we needed anything, ensuring our comfort, and occasionally bringing us tea or coffee. In areas deemed safer and where movement was possible, they assisted with crowd organisation, helping manage the queues of villagers seeking medical care.
Their role transcended security; they became part of the humanitarian mission itself.
The Night Watch: Vigilance and Sacrifice
When night fell, a different kind of dedication emerged. Some soldiers remained awake outside our residency throughout the entire night, maintaining alertness. Others rested with "one eye open," as we used to say, never fully at ease, always ready. They ensured our safety while we slept, accepting the burden of constant vigilance so we could rest.
Many of these young men had limited formal education—many hadn't completed secondary school. They had joined the military not out of ambition, but out of necessity: to support their families' survival. Yet despite their own hardships, they showed us extraordinary kindness and genuine appreciation.
"You doctors are doing great work," they told us with sincerity. "No one can pay you back for what you do."
Those words revealed a profound truth: they recognised the value of the medical mission and understood that we shared a common humanity despite our vastly different circumstances and roles.
Image: United in Resilience
A dedicated team of medical students, graduates, doctors, and lab technicians gather in solidarity among the hills of Kadugli during a humanitarian medical mission in the conflict zone
Reflections in the Shadow of War
I rediscovered these photographs recently while reviewing old images in my personal gallery. As I looked at their faces -young, earnest, committed- a weight settled over me.
Since the eruption of war in Sudan in April 2023, my thoughts have frequently returned to those soldiers. Given the nature of their profession and the intensification of conflict across Sudan, I worry deeply about whether they are safe. I don't know where they are now or what has become of them. Have they remained in service? Are their families protected? Do they still remember that medical mission to Kadugli?
The uncertainty is difficult. What I carry with me is profound gratitude for their service to our mission and to our nation, and a fervent hope that they and their families have found safety in these turbulent times.
Image: Safe to Serve
A doctor (Dr Sami Altalib) rests in the clinic, while through the window, a military patrol stands guard, a constant reminder of the security measures necessary to deliver care safely
A Prayer for Sudan
As I look at these images today, in January 2026, with Sudan still embroiled in devastating conflict, my sentiment remains unwavering:
I fervently wish for Sudan to find peace and safety, not tomorrow, but today.
Its people -the doctors, the students, the soldiers, the villagers- deserve nothing less than a nation at peace. They deserve the opportunity to build lives of meaning, security, and hope without the constant weight of conflict.
To those soldiers who protected us in Kadugli: I remember you. I honour you. I pray for your safety and that of your families.
A Mission Worth Remembering
Medical missions like the one we conducted represent something vital about Sudan's future: the potential for ordinary people -students, doctors, soldiers, and villagers- to work together across divides toward a common good.
That vision of collaboration, compassion, and shared humanity is not lost. It endures in these photographs and in the memories of all who participated.
May Sudan's path forward be illuminated by that same spirit.
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