The "Mendi for the Culture of Peace" organization bears the name of one of the female icons in Sudan (social networking sites)

The little girl, Ishraqa Mustafa, sat in the 1970s in the Sudanese city of Kosti, which is located at the crossroads between northern, eastern and southern Sudan. She persistently begged her neighbor in the neighborhood, Al-Zubair Khamis, to repeat to her for the hundred thousandth time the story of Princess Mendi, daughter of Sultan Ajabna.

Ishraqa says: “Uncle Khamis used to tell me about the mountains, about his first homeland, Umm Hitan, and of course about the horsewoman Mandy, whose wildness formed my imagination and mental images of a bold Sudanese woman whom our history has overlooked, with premeditation and premeditation.”

A small wall separates Uncle Khamis's house from the Ishraqa family's house, which did not prevent the thin body of the seven-year-old girl from crossing it and jumping to the other side.

Mustafa was fascinated by Princess Mandy and her courage from a young age, and she took on her spirit, and Mandy became her dream, which came true 30 years after she immigrated to Vienna, the capital of music and art.

She obtained a doctorate in political economy and immediately set about realizing her dream of establishing the “Banat Mendi” organization or “Mandi Organization for the Culture of Peace” and managing diversity to support and encourage Arab feminist cultural activity in the diaspora and inside Sudan.

An inspiring princess tale

The doctor says that she has assumed the presidency of the “Mendi for the Culture of Peace and Diversity Management” organization - which is based in the Austrian capital, Vienna - since its founding in 2021, and it was approved as a global organization in January 2022.

The organization has membership in Austria and Sudan and was chosen among 5 active voluntary organizations in Austria.

Dr. Mustafa continues: “Mandi’s story inspired me to establish the organization. Mandy is the daughter of Sultan Ajabna bin Aruga bin Saba, Sultan of the Nuba tribe, “Nimang,” in the Daling region (a Sudanese city located in the state of South Kordofan), southwest of Sudan.”

“Princess Mandy’s legend of valor, courage, and determination was formed in the first quarter of the 20th century by her confrontation with British colonialism, and history immortalized her heroism in a famous military march for the Sudan Defense Music Band, and was inspired by Mandy’s valor to raise the morale of soldiers and fighters in the armed forces,” adds the head of the “Mendy for Peace Culture and Diversity Management” organization. ".

She continues: “In the year 1908, the English colonialists attacked the army of Sultan Ajabna in the Battle of Alfos. In the face of firearms, the chances of the Nemang army’s victory diminished, signs of defeat appeared, and news reached the tribe, where the Sultan’s daughter, Princess Mendi, was about to defeat her father’s army. She was determined Mandy decided to send reinforcements under her command to support her tribe’s army, so she tied her infant child behind her back in the manner of the women of the Nimang tribes and crawled until she reached the land of Alfus and fought with unparalleled courage.”

The doctor continues talking about Mandy enthusiastically, saying: “In addition to her participation in the fighting, which caused her to lose her infant, she treated the wounded, raised the morale of the rebels, and cooked for the Nemang army. The battle ended with the capture of Sultan Ajabna and his execution later in the year 1917, and Mandy returned to her tribe as a leader, succeeding her father.” "The prisoner."

Inspiring immigrant women in Vienna

The Sudanese human rights activist describes the achievements of the Mendi Organization as significant compared to its short lifespan. For example, the workshop “Nobody but us writes our biography” turned into the book “Noun Al-Manfi, a biography of women from there,” which was co-written by writers from Syria, Zainab Khoja, Maria Abbas, and Farha Khalil, and from Sudan, Dr. Maryam Waqi Allah and Shadia Abdel Moneim.

The workshop also published a book entitled “Our Biography: Wings Beyond Borders” by the Syrian writer Etienne Bakler, and the book “The Alienation of the Soul” by the Syrian writer Bushra Majzoub, which was published by Safsafa Publishing House in Cairo, which also sponsored the publication of two books written by Dr. Mustafa: “Our Grandmothers, the Richness of Memory” and “You.” Beautiful", a book that discusses issues and standards of beauty.

The activities of the “Mendi” organization also published the book “Coffee Sodomites in the Memory of Exiles” by Eritrean writers Khadija Nour, Fatima Ahmed, and Asmahan Al-Numan, and Sudanese writers Amal Al-Sadiq, Fatima Al-Gaghi, and Bit Al-Muna.

“Mandy” also organized - with the participation of Arab immigrant women in Europe - two conferences during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, the first: “Sudanese Women; Diversity and Issues of Peace and Development,” in which 40 women from a number of countries of the world participated and expertise and experiences were exchanged with Canadian female activists. British women, and from many African and Arab countries; Such as Beman and Fayza Harbi from Egypt, Sawsan Amin and Nada Al-Khawam from Iraq, and Hurria Ali Jama from Eritrea.

As for the second conference, it was about creativity and the reproduction of knowledge. It was dedicated to the spirit of the late Sudanese storyteller Issa Al-Helou, and it dealt with many issues such as intellectual property rights, publishing problems, and the reproduction of knowledge.

According to its president, the organization also took the initiative to provide a grant called the “Malika Al Dar Bread and Roses Scholarship” in honor of the first Sudanese novelist, Professor Malika Al Dar Muhammad Abdullah.

Since its founding in 2021, the organization has also held three workshops in cooperation with local organizations in Kosti, Al-Damazin and Port Sudan, in which 65 young men and women participated under the slogan: “Writing for social change.”

Achievements of “Banat Mendi” Arts

Dr. Mustafa says that “Mandi” projects have achieved successes that have received media praise, noting that they aim to “highlight the role of male and female migrants in supporting their countries.”

She concludes: “After the outbreak of the current war in Sudan between the National Army and the Rapid Support Forces, the institution focused on a project it called “From Vienna, Peace to Sudan,” where two events were organized, funded by Austrian organizations, in which they focused on the role of the arts in consolidating a culture of peace.”

Source: Al Jazeera