SAMIA MOHEMED IBRAHIM (Sudan)

Samia Mohamad Ibrahim (47) was born in Gadarif State, Eastern Sudan. She obtained a first degree in Agriculture and Economics from Khartoum University and then an MSc in the same field from Oklahoma State University (USA). Samia works diligently for a healthy, natural environment, is a member of the Sudanese Environmental Conservation Association and also a member of El Hawdage Voluntary Association for Pastoralist Women. She works in liaison with all governmental and non-governmental environmental bodies.

Samia’s work as an activist in environmental development, monitoring the conditions of forests and local cultivations, is vulnerable to many environmental hazards. One day she was called by the Minister of Agriculture to go on a field trip to the State forests. In her words Samia recollects, “Our visit was to cover the State forests from north to south. In the afternoon we entered a forest in the south part of Gedaref. We plowed ahead across that forest for hours and hours till we thought we had got lost there. Only at sunset could we find our way out. Then all of a sudden it rained heavily. The minister decided to shorten the trip and to go back home. The place was very dark and there were thunderstorms. We could not call our families from our cellular phones because the area was outside the network coverage. We worked against the clock, because we knew that if rain flooded a local canal, we would not be able to cross it. Luckily enough when we reached the canal, we sought help from a local man, who walked us across the canal before it got flooded. The water level almost reached our car windows. We had to stay there for two days with members of the local tribe in their tents. By midnight we got home. My husband was very worried about me. He told me that the area we visited is replete with land mines. It was a very interesting experience: full of risks but enjoyable.” Samia coordinates the work of different bodies concerned with the environment, such as city councils and voluntary organizations. The activities she organizes include distributing seed allocations to local farmers, supervizing the implantation of road trees, launching and overseeing cleaning campaigns and raising peoples’ awareness of environmental development. Samia is currently working on a study about land utilization, which is one of the targets of a local environmental project.

Sudanese Environmental Conservation Society El Hawdage Voluntary Association for Pastoralist Women

Africa | Sudan