Escaping Sudan (4/9): Convincing people to leave

If you can't see it, it isn't happening right?

Day 4. Tuesday 18th April

The usual outbursts of bombing were now interspersed with gun fire, some that felt far too close for comfort. I was resigned to the reality, we had to leave and quickly. The plan had been in place for nearly a year. It was, unoriginally, titled “Plan B”. The list of people that were to leave with us included about half the SDigital team, my wife family and some of my neighbors.?

One by one I began calling them. I expected to be greeted with gratitude, and thanks, but instead, most people said “I can’t go” or “there’s no need to go”. I had made two huge miscalculations in our contingency planning. The first was I had forgotten about cultural norms.?

SDigital is made up of 80% women. It’s a result of having double double blind interview processes and selecting only the best possible candidates based on our shared values. It’s never been an issue, it’s not something I consider. In fact I’m proud of the fact that we select the best people regardless of any gender, cultural, or societal variables. This was the first time I had encountered such an issue. Unmarried women in Sudan don’t travel without a male chaperone. It must be a close relative, and suddenly my plans went down the pan.?

The second miscalculation wouldn’t become apparent for another 24 hours, but it was extremely frustrating to hear peoples over optimism. Eventually, we settled and agreed, the people who were leaving would leave on Thursday morning, by car and head to the Egyptian border. We already had 3 SDigital team members in Egypt as part of our contingency process, and now a bunch more would be coming, even if it wasn’t as many as I’d have liked.?

Before then, I had to make two trips. One of which would change me forever.

Escaping Sudan (5/9): The Putrid Rancid Stench of Death