Sudan: a tea at Aunt Raouda's [Series 4/4]

Audio 02:15

By: Léonard Vincent Follow

Often immigrant from the inside, tea sellers were persecuted under the old regime, so they played an important role in 2019: this is where the demonstrators met to take stock of the day. A year later, at Raouda, a famous tea seller in the university district, the atmosphere is still as fraternal.

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" I don't really have the words to describe Aunt Raouda ... " said Ahmed with a smile. Not easy to talk about this figure from the university district of Khartoum. The regular at her little cafe, in the shade of a tree, is a little shy next to her. " I can say that she is like my mother. If she needs a helping hand, I get up first to help her. We are beyond a relationship between a shopkeeper and customers. We come there every day. Sometimes we are broke and she gives us credit, ”adds Ahmed.

Wrapped in a multicolored veil, Raouda is a virtuoso. Glasses, a pan of boiling water, spoons of sugar, this placid Kordofan woman has been playing with her little cookware for 15 years, every day from 6 am to sunset. “ I couldn't follow studies. So to feed my family and educate my children, I started doing this job. What I earn here allows me to buy food and drink, some medicine, but that's it. I can't put anything aside, ”she says.

A key location for the 2019 revolution

Tea sellers like Raouda are everywhere in Khartoum. In each street, at all crossroads, as soon as there is shade. This is where the revolution was preparing for 2019.

Ahmed remembers. “ For us it was like an assembly. Whenever there were demonstrations, we left our cars here. We drank tea and then we went to the demonstrations by taxi ; and then after we came back for a drink here, where we discussed the events of the day before going home… ”, he says.

"We need to have legal status"

In recent years, Raouda and the 27,000 tea sellers in Khartoum have had a voice. Her name is Awadiya Mahmoud Koko, she is the founder of their union.

For Raouda, this is a chance. " We need to have legal status now. We are not street vendors or outsiders. We are normal workers, like the people who work in offices. That is why it is important that we have a union to help us. Before, we were chased by the authorities. Today, we even agree to pay a small tax, provided we obtain legal status. "

Tea at Raouda costs 10 Sudanese pounds, less than 20 euro cents.

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