The rebel-held areas of Sudan's Nuba Mountains have been under blockade since the start of a civil war in 2011 — with the Sudanese government denying all access for food, supplies and humanitarian aid. At the only hospital in the region, deaths due to preventable illnesses are on the increase.
Mother of Mercy Hospital is the only medical facility in all of South Kordofan province. The 80-bed hospital runs at triple its capacity. The staff is currently dealing with a large-scale measles outbreak — with more than 1,000 admissions for measles alone just last month, and a 25-per-thousand measles-related fatality rate. Nurse Maizub Hassen says many more cases are assumed to be undetected in rural villages.
“This is when the measles become serious. They come to the hospital. Every day we do receive almost 20 admissions, sometimes 10 admissions in a day, and it is really very, very dangerous here," he said. “But the bigger problem here is the vaccines. We don't have vaccines at all.”
For three years, Sudan's government has refused to let humanitarian aid into rebel-controlled areas. As a result, vaccine supplies were cut off, leaving the whole community here unvaccinated and thousands of children at risk of dying from otherwise preventable diseases. Hassen also checks the younger children for signs of malnutrition. He says at least 40 percent of these children are malnourished because of poor access to food.
Sometimes it's because mothers are not feeding, and sometimes it's because of sickness, "but mostly it's because of lack of food," he said. "They are not getting the food which gives a balanced diet.”
In addition to the blockade, Sudan's government has been accused of targeting civilians, hospitals and aid convoys destroying the little resources left in this cut-off region, though the government denies those allegations. Clinical officer Moral Said says many are injured but the hospital lacks enough supplies to treat them.
“Since the war started in 2011, we really have had a lot of patients who have been wounded, where there have been gunshots [from] Antonov jet fighters," he said. In 2014 alone, there were almost 300 such cases, he said.
Just outside the hospital, villagers constantly watch the skies for warplanes. Children play in foxholes. Every shopkeeper has a dugout to hide in. Just a few weeks ago, six young children were killed in a single missile strike in a market. Nowal, 11, was the only survivor. Five of her brothers and sisters were killed. Nowal's mother, Naires Osman, says she was away when the bombs fell.
“When I came home, I saw my five children just dead on the floor, and my daughter here was wounded," she said. "I was confused. I did not know what to do. I was out of my mind. I could not believe what had happened, and, that day, I decided to come here and stay in Gidel.”
Ambulance driver Amir was one of the first people to arrive at the scene. He displayed a picture of the house after the bomb hit.
“I feel so bad. I don't have the power to do anything. I just pray,” the mother of the dead children said.
The "Enough Project," an anti-genocide group, says Sudan's regime "continues to use the denial of humanitarian aid as a weapon of war." Without open humanitarian corridors, the Nuba mountains remain cut off from the outside world, and the region's only hospital is left struggling to cope.
Photos of the Nuba Mountain Area in Sudan
1/25Omar Jajani and his family stand around a bomb crater made by an Antonov bomber. He says the bombing destroyed the whole compound where his home once was, everything is gone. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
2/25Many families now live permanently in caves too escape relentless relentless aerial bombardment by Sudan’s armed forces. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
3/25Sun Rises across the planes in Kowalip, Nuba Mountains Sudan. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
4/25Partially collapsed building of the famed Carlton Citadel Hotel (L), in the government-controlled side of the divided northern Syrian city of Aleppo
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
5/25An un-exploded bomb sits against a wall in Kowdah town. One of over 2000 bombs dropped out of Antonov planes in the Nuba Mountains since 2012. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
6/25Mother of Mercy Hospital, Gidel has become an unofficial IDP camp. With no cars, many travel weeks to reach the hospital, but do not want to leave its safety. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
7/25Children’s graffiti inside a building shows an Antonov plane in Kowalip village. Daily bombings are carried out by Sudan’s Government forces, many children have lived in war their whole life. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
8/2511 year old Nowal is the only surviver of seven siblings after a single rocket hit her home in Haiban village. She was left blind. Sudan’s government have been accused of targeting civilians in the Nuba Mountains, but they deny all allegations. (Adam Bail
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
9/25Yida refugee camp, where over 80,000 people now live after fleeing war in the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile and Darfur. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
10/25Yassin Hassen, a local journalist working for Nuba Reports has been reporting on Sudan’s civil war since it began in 2011. Without him the war in the Nuba mountains would be all but forgotten. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
11/25Head teacher Kuku Barnabas stands inside a building bombed earlier this year by Sudan’s government forces. He says 54 bombs landed on the school in one day, but the school is still operating. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
12/25A girl stand outside the smoke house, where many internally displaced people cook, while staying in the hospital compound. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
13/25Many come and go freely outside Mother of mercy hospital. Nuba Mountains. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
14/25A young boy stands outside the gate of Mother of mercy hospital. Nuba Mountains. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
15/25Sun sets over Delami County Sudan, after three year civil war, with no hope of change the future looks bleak. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
16/25Nine-year-old Rabe Mohammed was injured and lost his right leg when an Antonov bombed his home last year. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
17/25Pink desert roses stand on each side as villagers walk down a dirt track. The only to be found in the whole landscape. Beautiful but incredibly poissonas. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
18/25Tim aerobatik Polandia memamerkan kebolehan pada pameran udara di Szczecin, Polandia.
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
19/25An SPLA-N rebel soldier guides us through burned fields towards the front line. Destroyed by shelling and Antonov bombings all the villages here are now abandoned. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
20/25Children stand under a crescent moon as night falls in Tunguli village, Nuba Mountains. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
21/25As night falls, a group of boys from the caves come out of hiding and play football in the brief moments of peace before dark. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
22/25As night falls, a group of boys from the caves come out of hiding and play football in the brief moments of peace before dark. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
23/25Two jets pass over, locals say these are the first non bomber planes they have seen in almost three years. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
24/25A Nuban man watches the sky as an Antonov bomber fly’s over head. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
25/25Antonov bomber planes flight at high altitude, daily attacks are wildly inaccurate but deadly. (Adam Bailes/VOA News)
See Adam Bailes' photos from his recent reporting trip to the Nuba Mountain area in Sudan.
