I saw SIMAD University’s press release announcing dedicated scholarships for Sudanese students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and honestly this made my day.

This comes after Somali National University did something similar. Last year the federal government announced 30 scholarships for Sudanese students displaced by the war, covering tuition, accommodation, and monthly stipends, and the first group arrived in Mogadishu in December to start their studies at SNU. 

Now SIMAD, one of our top private universities, is adding to that. Our Ministry of Education said it plainly when they announced theirs, Sudan is one of the unforgettable governments that supported our people with scholarships when we didn’t even have a functioning government.  
And that’s the part I really want to talk about, because some of the younger generation might not know this history.

When our civil war broke out and everything collapsed, Sudan and Yemen opened their doors to us. No visa obstacles, no cold shoulder, just welcome. They gave our students scholarships when we had no government to speak for us, no embassy that functioned, nothing. Ask around your own family, I promise you almost every Somali has a relative, close or distant, who studied in Sudan or Yemen during those years. Khartoum and Sanaa educated a whole generation of Somalis when nobody else would take us.

Syria did the same. Under the Assad family, and let’s be honest, they were brutal to their own people, but toward Somalis specifically they opened universities and welcomed our students with real respect. History is complicated like that, the same government can be cruel at home and generous to strangers.

Now Sudan is going through its darkest hour, universities closed, students scattered, millions displaced. And our universities are saying come, study here, you are among your people. Our education minister put it beautifully when he welcomed the first group: “Your presence reminds us of the years when Sudan welcomed thousands of Somali students. Welcome to your country and among your people.”

This is what gratitude between nations looks like. Not speeches, not statements, actual seats in actual classrooms. May Allah bring peace to Sudan and Yemen both, and may we never forget who stood with us when we had nothing.

Returning the Favor: SIMAD Opens Its Doors to Sudanese Students 🇸🇴🇸🇩