Sudan has become synonymous with the word genocide. Mention Sudan to anyone now and most people will only picture ugly images of dead people, hungry orphans with flies buzzing around their heads and Janjaweed charging across the lands to murder innocent villagers. I don’t deny such things exist. Sadly they do and what’s worse is that it’s all you get to hear about. The following New York Times article puts things into perspective. It comes together with this revealing video that shatters typical stereotypes. Make sure you watch it. (hat tip: Sudan Watch). Those two items caused different people to react differently. Some were impressed with the economic reforms and others were left with a bitter taste in their mouths.
The video left me with mixed feelings too and it brought back many memories. In a way I was happy that many people will now be able to see a different side of Sudan they rarely hear about. I’ve always hated it when people ask me stupid questions about Sudan. They think it’s nothing but an empty desert and that when I go back for holidays, I live in a tent with no proper sanitation or electricity. Sudan isn’t all like that. Khartoum is a different world from the rest of the country. If you know the right people, you can go to places where you would swear you weren’t even in Sudan. A few years ago I was shocked at some of the things that happen behind “closed doors” in the upper class places in the capital.
When parents are away friends host big private parties in their mansions which are built on farms along the Nile. In those parties you can expect the unexpected. Some mansions were built by their owners with the sole purpose of making them easily convertable into clubs. The mansions are designed with in-built sound systems wired to speakers and subwoofers in all rooms including the bathroom! Wherever you go, the DJ’s choice of hip-hop and house music goes with you. All kinds of alcoholic drinks flow until nothing is left. Sometimes cocaine, weed, heroin and ecstacy flow along too! “Well behaved” hijaby girls come to the parties dressed in revealing clothes they would never dare to wear in most public places. Foreigners including many Europeans also get invited. Furniture gets moved and space is made for a huge dancefloor. If there’s a swimming pool, then the party moves outside with the drained swimming pool acting as another dance floor. Some chill, some dance while others play a few games at the very limited available pool and snooker tables. A few miles away at the edges of the farm, private security stands on guard to make sure the religious police doesn’t come onto the private property. If they do show up then the private security just bribes them and tells them to buzz off. This description alone ought to turn your head upside-down a little bit. Even many conservative/innocent Sudanese have no idea about the kind of crazy things that happen behind “closed doors” in Khartoum but some of those crazy incidents have been reported in newspapers.
The slowly returning Sudanese diaspora is bringing along with it tons of money and lifestyles foreign to Sudanese culture. Much of those lifestyles present a huge opportunity for business people. The consumer market is big and investors are pouring money into it while in the process reaping back big profits. People have extra money to spend on leisure and entertainment. They want to be able to live the same lifestyle they had back in America, London, Europe or Dubai. They want to be pampered. The demand is high but the supply is low. Ozone Cafe (featured in the video) is just one of those things that the returning Sudanese diaspora wanted but couldn’t find. It’s one of many expensive hang out places and shisha bars mushrooming everywhere catering to the priveleged Sudanese in the capital and also the increasingly big number of foreigners there. 10 years ago, a Chinese man walking around Khartoum would have been like a giraffe roaming around Antartica. Now there are foreigners everywhere in the capital. This also presents a big potential market for business people. We’ve got our own mini China-town now for God’s sake people and it’s expanding steadily! It’s kinda cool. Khartoum is much more interesting now and there are a lot more fun things to do when I go back to visit. In the past, the only fun you could get was during outdoor BBQ picnics or in wedding celebrations and private house parties of course. 
There are many cool projects coming along nicely now. The biggest one underway is currently al-Sunut. For me and people like me back home, al-Sunut is going to be super great. Shopping mall, luxury hotels, spas, office towers, a nice corneche, Sudan’s first golf course (ya I know we have no golf courses!), huge villas with swimming pools along the Nile and much more are going to be available. A few years from now, it will be completed. Few of the buildings are already finished. Check out some pictures and the videos on the official website of alSunut.
All this would have been unimaginable 5-10 years ago especially when the north-south war was still going and political opression was at its peak. Conditions in Khartoum have greatly improved. I have to give Omar al-Bashir’s regime credit for this. Even power cuts are very rare now! That wasn’t the case 5-10 years ago. There would be power cuts daily (except in winter) that lasted for a minimum of 4-6 hours. Thank God we had our own generator in the house. It consumed a lot of expensive fuel but at least it kept the air conditioning going and refrigerators on. I’m lucky that my family back home is doing well. My grandfather God rest his soul, left behind a lot even though much of what he made during his life was lost thanks of course to the NIF thieves who appeared and started doing all kinds of corrupt and vile things in the name of “Islamic economic reform”. The methods used mainly involved imposing newly created taxes with the purpose of burdening existing businesses until they declared bankruptcy. That way after enough businesses went bankrupt, NIF members would modify the old tax laws and start their own more “halal” companies which of course will end up doing super great since there was no real competition facing them anymore. Anyways that’s besides the point.
There are many Sudanese in Khartoum enjoying the party too much, many who are trying to enjoy it while also doing the best they can to help others and many many more who simply can’t enjoy because they’re too worried about making ends meet. That’s where my heavy disgust begins. Surely, Khartoum is where the party is at. Some enjoy and chill away, while others are simply intoxicated and high… too high in the clouds to notice all the other sad crap that goes on way below them. Sadly the losers in the party stay on the edges and watch the cool “high” crowd enjoying to the max. Some in the cool crowd are sympathetic towards the “losers” and try to help them through donations mostly. If they try helping them through other daring means, they risk ending up becoming “losers” too. I don’t blame them. I myself I’m afraid of the risks too but I’m not going to turn my back and pretend the “losers” don’t exist. Still though most of the “cool” ones are unfortunately just not bothered or too immoral and involved in gang bangs and orgies to actually care about carrying out their moral duties towards the “loser crowd”. They’re the minority, they’ve got the power, they like what they’ve got and they won’t give it up. That’s what really makes me sick.
I really hate it sometimes when Sudanese friends of mine start talking crap and start bragging about al-Sunut for example. I tend to get too tensed up in the moment. Sure it’s great and it’s wonderful for Khartoum but NOT Sudan. You see this is the problem I’ve noticed with many Sudanese in Khartoum and outside of Sudan. They’re so happy about al-Sunut and they start saying things like “oh Sudan is developing, oh it’s improving”. No it’s NOT. Khartoum is improving. Khartoum is witnessing development. Khartoum is where the party is at. Khartoum is the one that’s visibly benefiting from the increasing investment. BUT Khartoum is where only about one sixth of Sudan’s population is. Khartoum isn’t Sudan and Sudan isn’t Khartoum. We’re a country of about 30 million people. Only 5 million live in the capital… a capital that is increasingly becoming prosperous but what about the other 25 million Sudanese elsewhere? What about them? We need to pay attention to them. We need to visibly decrease the wealth gap between us in Khartoum and them. We need to help them catch up with us instead of focusing too much on making Khartoum catch up with the rest of the world. We need to at least, at least, at least provide them with basic necessities and help them obtain the dignity they deserve as Sudanese citizens. They’re having no damn party for sure.
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
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Sudan is not Darfur, that is a fact. While many continue to suffer in Darfur there are many more having a good life in other parts of Sudan. Khartoum is booming, investors are running into the country, oil money is drawing billionaires from the Gulf countries. (Drima you asked the same question in one of your posts!)
Like any other country on earth (America included) there are the haves and the have nots.(Remember what Katrina exposed about the poverty of the American South! Despicable!).
Although Darfur is a disaster, it is not the same in other parts of the country. I have past everyday across the New Omdurman bridge and seen the Sunnut complex coming up, the new five star hotel being built by Libyan money. Three bridges are being build at the same time to link the the three towns. I was in Ozone several times just to feel the place and visited Afra (the only real Super Market complex in the whole country!)
Too bad. All the investment is happening in Khartoum! True, that is where the party is now! Maybe, we should ask why all of these happenings are centered in Khartoum. Is it because Khartoum is the Capital, the face of Sudan? You cannot develop Wad Medani and leave your Capital in dirty and in shambles could you? (lol) The rich will continue to be richer while the poor remains poorer!
Not all of Khartoum is developing, I tell you. Have you been to Jaborona (I bet you don’t even know where that is!) Ras Shetan, Mayo, Zagalona and Taradona!? Dar es Salaam! All of these ghettoes are IN Khartoum!
At least you made me think about something apart from darfur! But let there be peace in Darfur. Amen!
“Not all of Khartoum is developing, I tell you. Have you been to Jaborona (I bet you don’t even know where that is!) Ras Shetan, Mayo, Zagalona and Taradona!? Dar es Salaam! All of these ghettoes are IN Khartoum!”
I only know Dar es Salaam. I admit I’ve never heard of the rest.
“At least you made me think about something apart from darfur! But let there be peace in Darfur. Amen!”
Amen brother. Amen!
Regarding the questions I asked… I’m seriously hungry for some knowledge as to how the hell on earth they do it. How does the NCP manage to erase investors’ worries and make them so confident even though there are TONS of problems? Any ideas BK? I mean these investors are pouring millions and some even billions into the country!
My only guess is that their love and hunger for money and profit is much bigger than their worries.
Drima, thankx for the bittersweet post.It almost brought tears to my eyes.This whole thing is twisted.Those in the capital need a break too & the developments are great but,sadly & as you said, Khartoum doesn’t represent Sudan.There are still people in Sudan who don’t know what electricity is or what a TV is in addition to the war-torn areas & the displaced people. If investments keep pouring in Khartoum only, the wealth gap will keep increasing, which will have a toll on the crime rates & add to the misery of the poor majority.
Speaking of the private parties, when I was in my last year of Uni(2003), my friend invited me & my cousin to a New year’s party at the Madagascar diplomat’s crib.My younger female cousin & I were all excited but we both got the shock of our lives when we went. Booze was being served & it was my first time to witness weed in action,looool.I freaked out & I was the only hijabee in the party. To top it off, two other Sudanese girls(the other guests were foreigners ), who were wearing abayas when the first came in & who squealed with delight when they knew we were Sudanese too, took off their abayas & were wearing revealing clothes underneath.They turned out to be prostitutes & one of them started making out with the host.They probably thought we were like them too,waaaaaaaaaah.I packed my cousin & we ran out of the party.I never, never, expected to witness such things in Sudan.looool.Such things still rattle me.It’s high time I put aside my naivete & accept Sudan’s hard-core reality.
As for the govt, I don’t want to give it credit for the progress it has brought because, to me, its misdeeds outweigh its good deeds.It’s all a white-washing strategy.When Sheikh Zayed(AR) built the UAE, it was purely & genuinely for the sake of his ppl’s welfare. As for Sudan & sry for sounding cynical but our ppl have no love for our country.
Such things still rattle me!!!
That last line was added inadvertently.
LOL.. since i had to promise “M” that I wnt write bout such issues much anymore.. I’ll keep my comment bout khartoum and the development there! Am glad you posted this article Drima.. It’s time for people to know what’s Sudan really bout.. Sudan is Darfur, the South, the east, the Northern states and Khartoum too..
Khartoum is developing, but one note.. lets say, al Sunut project is ready, with all the complexes, Villa, Hotels and golf courses.. WHAT kinda ppl can REALLY afford going to these places??1 only 5%, 10% of khartoum population!! I dunno.. but about 98% of the ppl in khartoum are still making less money!! I mean its almost bout what? 150 USD per month for each employee.. whats he gona do with it?? Feed his children or go play golf!
Daymn I wanted to stay positive here, Oke. yeah Khartoum is pretty cool and a really nice place for people to come and have a good time! LOL..
hmm, wateva!
Nice inside view, Drima: thanks
Hipster, I couldn’t stop laughing at your comment above LOL
(sorry, but I just can see it happening in front of my eyes - both of you with eyes like saucers, hihiiiii )
Hipster, new year parties are CRAAAZY!! Believe me I’d know, I started clubbing at the age of 14 (don’t ask how). Parties in Sudan are crazy for the simple reason that they’re “lawless”. All you have to do is just bribe the police and they’ll leave you alone unless the police man is actually a good honest God fearing one which is very rare.
“As for the govt, I don’t want to give it credit for the progress it has brought because, to me, its misdeeds outweigh its good deeds”
True but I’ll still give them credit where they deserve it (extremely rare cases). If there’s anything Omar al-Bashir deserves a hug for then it’s his decision for kicking Turabi out of government and placing him on house arrest. Turabi taking over would have been a major DISASTER.
Precious, does “M” stand for mommy? Grrrrr, you have no idea the kind of headache I got today. My mom just called and gave me a big 3rd lecture asking me to stop blogging!! This is all of course thanks to my well-meaning over worried little sister who read some stuff about bloggers being arrested and treated badly in jails. She was like “mommy mommy tell Drima to stop this blogging thing of his. He’s writting bad stuff about the government. What if they find out and arrest him when we go back?” My dad is like “as long as you’re not influential, they won’t care but once you become a pain for them, you better think twice”. Thank God they eventually calm down and stay calm 90% of the time. Parents… They just love to worry don’t they?
Tsedek, I hope the video opened your mind to a whole new diffferent perspective.
Good to have you back. I’m guessing you’ve been busy lately.
Drima-
You are developing the mind of a prophet.
Tse, I sure made a fool of myself that night cuz I was agitated & panicky:))
Speaking of mothers, remember, Drima, my coup d’etat essay.Well, my mama advised me against posting it. She doesn’t want me to get tangled in politics.If I want to do soemthing for my country, she said I should go do voluntary work in Darfur.I can understand our mothers’ fears but it’s so unfair.I feel oppressed!!!
“She doesn’t want me to get tangled in politics.”
Same here but I guess I’m already tangled… Plus, the blogosphere has been a true education and a mind-opending experience I would have never been able to experience in a class room… I’m glad I was already here to witness the blogging action during the Israel-Lebanese war.
Whoever thought that there are Zionists who aren’t determined to take over all land from Euphrates to the Nile? Right Tse? LOL
If we don’t speak out against the atrocities of our govt, how will we effect any change?Blogging is the least of the least we can do & there is still a possibility of danger there.How will we ever stand up for the injustice if we don’t write about it???!!!
I’m bugged, frustrated, mad & feel like I’m in chains. My family is my everything & I don’t want to put them through pain if I get arrested.My mom already has enough on her mind.Lemme just be a good girl & get married.To h*** with my country & the world, rite??!!!
~~~~~Whoever thought that there are Zionists who aren’t determined to take over all land from Euphrates to the Nile? Right Tse? LOL ~~~~~
I, for one, am an Israeli who never heard of it and in my early correspondence with the Sandmonkey HE(!) had to explain to me what it entails. So far for “our” plans
That’s exactly my point. My parents and friends are always complaining about how screwed Sudan has become but yet they’re not willing to actually do something (except charity). It’s as if each Sudanese is waiting for the other Sudanese to take the risk and do something to “save” Sudan.
Grrrr, anyways this is an endless topic… However there’s something that I’m going to address much more often in the future… We tend to blame the government too much… I think our mentality is a big part of the problem too…
Tse, what about the one in which Jews want to rule the world and make all non-Jews slaves?
LOL.. @Drima bein half jew.. LOOOL dats a good one.. I guess LO ddnt see the warning in the head of ur blog. warning: I’m sarcastic.. lol..
and yes M does stand for my mum, who warned me and even told me stories, she kinda scared me.. its not that but its like hipster said.. they already have alot on thier minds and they dnt need more fuss by us ebin arrested or atleast “BLACK LISTED”..
“Grrrr, anyways this is an endless topic… However there’s something that I’m going to address much more often in the future… We tend to blame the government too much… I think our mentality is a big part of the problem too… ”
I much agree with that.. its the mentality of 90% of the sudanese in sudan.. and also I must add that many of the sudanese livin in sudan have gave up hope and many others simply dont have that love or devotion for the country any more.. all of them just thinkin and sayin” when da hell am I gettin outa this hole” refering to Sudan..
It dissapoints me that there is no more Patriotism among the people of Sudan!
Toldcha, Drima… you have no choice but get into politics and become Caesar of the African Empire. And change your name to Hannibal Scipio Africanus
And about patriotism… I never really got it. How can you have patriotism in a society which is still, by and large, tribal?
Maybe repartition into city-states or something can help?
“all of them just thinkin and sayin” when da hell am I gettin outa this hole” refering to Sudan..”
So true!
Raccoon, as much as it freaks out my mom, I think sub-consciencely I might be heading there. Long ago, my father was offered a position as a minister in the government and she convinced him not to take it!!
The plan is already set in my mind and even if it doesn’t work there is a plan B and a C and a D until Z. Hell even if Z doesn’t work, I’ll modify the English alphabet to add more letters.
Graduate, get a job, simultaneously work on setting up a side business, get out of the rat race, continue on with my entrepreneurial plans, achieve them and then seriously turn my eyes towards Sudan to see the possibilities.
Ah, so easy to say but very challenging to do… not hard… just challenging… very challenging.
BTW do you know Napleon Hill? He’s my most favorite American author.
Anyways dude, since you don’t pray, roll one for me will you?
PS: Precious, what’s so funny? I AM half Jewish!!! LOL
I don’t know Napoleon Hill personally… but I read bits and pieces of his books. IMHO, it’s common sense mixed with feel-good proto-psychology.
I know a number of people who made it high on the socio-economic ladder, starting from the pits. Not many… but they are there. And those of them that read books prefer stuff like “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu and “The Prince” by Machiavelli. The rest just have minds like tanks.
It seems to me that your mom is Jewish. Does she insist you wear sweaters and tries to stuff you with food every time she sees you?
And I’ll have a talk with Eris about your ambitions… maybe she’ll favor you
Drima-
We will know for sure you are Jewish when we see a pic of your walking in Sudan on a mid-summer day dressed in mittens and a ski cap a “GRE Prep” book tucked under your arm and give applications to Ivy League Med. or Law schools.
Oh..and your cell phone would be ringing with your mom ready to ask you why you did not come home last weekend.
THEN …I will believe the Jewish thing….oh and if you send and invisible UAV that looks like a bee to kill “black male Darfurians”…then we can figure you are an Israeli Jew on top of it.
“Not many… but they are there. And those of them that read books prefer stuff like “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu and “The Prince” by Machiavelli. ”
EXACTLY my kind of books. The best series of books ever on entrepreneurship, business and personal finance are the Rich Dad series. They’re priceless. I don’t spend too much time reading novels and stuff like that. And dude, you should seriously read The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick if you have time. It’s one of my favorite books of all time (besides Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad’s series and Napoleon Hill’s stuff of course)
My mom has her background in psychology (relationship counceling) so she kinda had a big influence on me. My maternal grand father started poor and small until he became a multi-millionaire thanks to years in Saudi real estate and then years doing business in Sudan. My dad on the other hand is an American trained Professor (thanks to a scholarship her earned) but his brothers are/were bankers, accountants etc. I think that might give you an idea of how I turned up becoming what I am and the influences I had.
“Does she insist you wear sweaters and tries to stuff you with food every time she sees you?”
Sounds just like her and Raccoon, how many times do I have to repeat myself. I AM half Jewish damn it
PS: You’re originally Russian but born in Israel right? Do you speak any Russian?
Howie LOL
Mmmm, Art of Deception? Sounds juicy, I’ll check it out, after I finish a couple of projects and read Kite Runner. Thanks
My wife is a big fan of Kiyosaki. And my parents are a perfect example of the Poor Dad kind - both are highly-trained professionals who never tried to make money. Inexplicable, how two extremely intelligent and capable people manage to remain so poor. But then again, they were an excellent example of what not to do… I started my own small and illegal business when I was 6.
Heh. My family history is a complicated affair. I was born in USSR, my parents were also born in USSR, their grandparents were born in Poland and Ukraine, my grandgrandparents were born all over Europe… my family are Pogrom Escape Artists and were doctors, scientists, teachers and Rabbis for as many generations as I can find
I can speak and read Russian, but can’t write. Hey, it’s good enough for reading Bulgakov in original
And hey - your family are bankers, so you MUST be Jewish!
Drima, the corruption in Sudan just brings back thought of malaysia.
The corruption has seeped down from the top and the only way of preventing furthur penetration is to clear the entire. govt.
That’s the prob malaysia is facing now…. how can you get rid of an established govt? Moreover, habits are ingrained in the people… in the govt servants, in the MP’s in regular households… where does it all stop?
Though I believe Sudan might have an easier escape than malaysia… at least revolution might happen in the near future… who would take over in Malaysia?? Everyone is too scared to even think of change!
Most importantly… people like you speak of change… that’s always the first step… maybe your parents’ generation remains passive but with our generation comes greater pro-activism… Our generation will make a difference… you already make a difference, ey??
I love the pictures of Al Sunut, btw… looks like it’s going to make an amazing skyline…. but the practicality of it will always be questioned… foreigners i guess??
Just like malaysia with the Twin tower and KLIA- a massive airposrt with only 40% occupation!?!
Money will always be drained from the govt’s bank a/c for useless projects… though this is private project, right? Imagine how many houses that could build for the homeless all over Sudan…
Malaysia??? I never pictured it as a corrupted country! always imagined that it’s the perfect place!!
Good plan you got there Drima, best of luck in it.. Kinda similar to mine, except that mine doesn’t include Politics!! I think I’ll just keep it this way for long.. I mean I can say my opinion.. but I dnt have a political mind!! Just a BUSINESS mind..
hmm, onelast time.. are you really half Jew? LOL .. Are you “Shaygy”? LOL
Aimster, yes Malaysia might be corrupted but you’re way too pessimistic. It’s not THAT bad. Believe me you guys are way much better. At least the government provides the basic necessities for all people. People still eat, go to school, have free healthcare and a roof over their heads. The quality of all that might not be that good but STILL at least it’s there.
And girl, if you want to know how you can get rid of corruption then you should read books about the days of Al Capone in Chicago. There was a time when America was corrupted as hell especially during the prohibition. Things sure did improve a lot since then.
Precious: Yes I’m Nubian Shaygy… and Jewish of course
Oh ya and Raccoon, khowe soska
Oh one more thing Raccoon… Can you teach me bad words in Hebrew? LOL
and of course some good words too.
Drima - LOL, it took me a while to understand what khowe soska is supposed to mean
I’m a good Jewish boy, and since I repatriated from USSR as a young cub, I don’t know many and use very few Russian swearwords.
And hmmm… Hebrew swearwords are very similar to Arabic. Probably the most popular one is ben (or bat) zona - son (or daughter) of a whore.
But if you’re looking for qualitity insults, the Bible has it. “Ke-zona tzoa takhat etz ha-shikma ba-medbar” - “like a whore bending over underneath the cycamore tree in the desert”. Which is brilliant, multi-faceted, and lyrical: a “bending-over whore” means she/he takes it up the ass, and the thing about cycamore tree in the desert means everybody is doing her/him - cycamore trees grow in the Negev in oasises, and therefore on junctions. And since the original reference is of a pissed-off prophet raging about the people of Israel, you also imply that whoemever you tell it to is Jewish. And linguistically, it’s a masterpiece - the consonants clash in a most satisfying manner
An excellent post and I learned much, as always. I’m glad to see there is much more to Sudan than I would have guessed, including many positives but also a glaring disparity.
plse put down All yr weapons !!!
Melt dem down !!!
@ pray 4 world — wide Peace !!!
there’s no point in arging about +++
. don’t fite
. don’t send in yr fighters !!!
. inhallah / shallom / Mogidishu ltd issue ‘ — !!!
Heaven on earth — not dearth !!!
R.i.p !!!
Al — Aqsr — the brother-hood — ‘///jnop[
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