Maria’s story is one of extraordinary resilience and maternal courage in the face of unimaginable hardship. At just 20 years old, she fled the violence engulfing Sudan with her nine-month-old daughter, Imtias, wrapped in a thin cloth, her only possession. As bombs fell and gunfire echoed around her, Maria joined thousands of others escaping the chaos, driven by a singular instinct: survival. The journey to safety in Chad was brutal, stretching across days of walking through scorched terrain with no food, no water, and no certainty of survival.
At one point, Maria had gone six days without eating and two without drinking. Severely dehydrated and disoriented, she clawed at the sand with her bare hands until she uncovered a small puddle of water, just enough to share with her silent, exhausted child. Around her, other mothers trudged forward, many unsure whether the babies strapped to their backs were still alive. Yet Maria pressed on, fueled by a fierce determination to protect her daughter and reach safety.
Her arrival in Chad marked not the end of her struggle, but the beginning of a new chapter, one defined by hope and the possibility of rebuilding. Maria’s story is a raw testament to the strength of women in crisis, and a reminder that survival is not just about endurance, but about love, sacrifice, and the unbreakable will to keep moving forward. In the face of war and displacement, Maria stands as a symbol of courage that refuses to be extinguished.