“We have almost arrived,” Tayeb told me, from the driver’s seat. We were going to Rokero, the capital of the Sudanese town of Jebel Marra, in Darfur Central, to support our Sudanese colleagues, who had kept the work of doctors without borders (MSF) in the region since, in April 2023.
Rocky, sandy and rugged, every kilometer of the road that ran under our feet evidenced the isolation facing the local population. For ambulances, supplies trucks or any person who needed urgent medical attention, that was more an obstacle race than a road.
These villages disturbingly silent, abandoned by their inhabitants to try to save their lives and escape violence, were a constant reminder of the footprints that this terrible is leaving. Around us, the vast green landscape seemed to spread to infinity. I told El Tayeb that it was impressive to see such fertile terrain in the middle of such desolation.
“Precisely, in the local language,” Rokero “means Valle Verde,” he told me. “So, welcome to the paradise of Rokero!”
Our Sudanese colleagues gave us a warm welcome. I was moved by his strength by explaining the situation: a, and waves of fleeing violence in the phase, the capital of Darfur Norte.
It soon found the cost of this crisis first hand. A mother arrived at the hospital with her one -year -old daughter, whose little body burned with fever. He had his face covered with rash and breathed with difficulty. The symptoms pointed to measles. The mother, who had a emaciated face, explained to the team that her daughter had not been vaccinated because there were no vaccines available anywhere.
This is one of the hidden impacts of this war. The basic immunization program in northern Jebel Marra was interrupted in October 2024
This is one of the hidden impacts of this war. The basic immunization program in northern Jebel Marra was interrupted in October 2024 when vaccine reserves were exhausted. The stocks were not replaced until months later and as a consequence.
The case of that girl was complicated: measles and malnutrition are a dangerous combination. Seeing the mother with her sick daughter in her arms, I felt a deep feeling of injustice. Children do not choose war, but their deepest wounds.
Precisely to protect boys and girls like that baby, at the end of November 2024 we launched a measles vaccination campaign in seven villages in the Jebel Marra Norte region, including Rokero. For six days, our teams vaccinated more than 9,600 children. And during all that time, while the equipment put the vaccines, I could not stop thinking about that girl so fragile that she had been admitted to our isolation room.
However, being able to feel the relief in the faces of the mothers during the campaign was a kind of silent victory. There are some battles that can still be won.
Less financing and more medical needs
In Rokero, the need for humanitarian aid becomes evident in many aspects: food insecurity, water scarcity, lack of refuge and essential articles are everyday problems for the thousands of displaced families who have settled in the area.
MSF is one of the only four international humanitarian organizations that continue to operate in northern Jebel Marra. All of them have very limited resources and try to meet needs that far exceed their capacity. MSF is an eminently medical organization, but here we face an increasing pressure to respond to humanitarian needs that would escape our scope of action.
Without urgent help, without the reactivation of suspended financing sources and without the intervention of new humanitarian organizations, the future here can become catastrophic
The situation became even more precarious when, at the beginning of 2025, the United States decided worldwide. That, added to other countries have also significantly reduced their contributions to international aid, has had devastating effects.
Although MSF does not depend on the financing of the US government, most of the few organizations working in the Jebel Marra region do. Therefore, the freezing of funds and the closure of programs has been one that endangers hundreds of thousands of lives and that has left entire communities without access to vital aid at a particularly difficult time for them.
The fight of a community: Burgo’s story
A conversation with a community leader from the Burgo area was enough to understand the magnitude of humanitarian needs in northern Jebel Marra. The community leader went to the MSF office one day with an urgent message. He explained that Burgo, where some 800 families live, had been overwhelmed and that already welcomed almost 2,000 families, including 200 who had fled from the phase in recent weeks.
He was concerned about access to water, because the three wells fed with solar energy from Burgo no longer paid. Women and children made long lines for hours under the sun to get a drum. Water supply is not a need that MSF can cover on its own. And the reality is raw: without collective action, without the intervention of more humanitarian organizations, cracks in places like Burgo will only enlarge.
The way back
On March 9, my mission in Rokero came to an end. While we were returning along that same irregular and implacable road, my thoughts focused on those left behind in the green Valley of Darfur, in their fighter people and in their silent resistance.
In Rokero there is strength, but also vulnerability. The needs grow every day, while the resources to meet them continue to decrease. We maintain our level of commitment, but we cannot support the weight of this crisis alone. Without urgent help, without the reactivation of suspended financing sources and without the intervention of new humanitarian organizations, the future here can become catastrophic.
