Adré Children’s Feeding Program and Clinic Update - July 2025
Program Background
When war erupted in Sudan in April 2023, Darfur quickly became the epicenter of some of the conflict’s worst atrocities. What began as a power struggle between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) spiraled into a brutal, targeted campaign of violence. The largely Arab RSF launched a hate-driven assault on Darfur’s historic ethnic African communities, including the Zaghawa, Fur, and Masalit people groups.
Map by Operation Broken Silence
Between April and June 2023, up to 15,000 Masalit civilians were systematically massacred in West Darfur. By early November, the RSF had seized most of Darfur, minus the Greater El Fasher area. What’s followed has been catastrophic.
Parts of Darfur are now in famine. Refugees crossing the border into Adré, with nothing but the clothes on their backs and thousand-yard stares, tell stories of mass killings and starvation. Darfur has descended into ethnic cleansing, widespread rape, and total lawlessness under RSF occupation. Markets, farms, banks, and aid warehouses have been looted or destroyed.
In response, Operation Broken Silence is helping local heroes deliver emergency food and medical care to some of the most vulnerable refugee communities in eastern Chad. We’re supporting trusted Sudanese community leaders in two key areas:
The Adré refugee camps
The Tiné area
Below are important updates from the Children’s Feeding Center and Healthcare Clinic in Adré—both entirely refugee-led and privately funded by people like you.
For You Healthcare Clinic
Against the backdrop of displacement, hunger, and disease, the small clinic in Adré continues saving and changing lives. Each week, the dedicated medical and administrative teams work with compassion to deliver lifesaving care to Sudanese refugees, despite limited resources and growing demand. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of people needing the clinic’s services, particularly in the chronic disease and gynecology areas, after large numbers of refugees from El Fasher, North Darfur and Nyala, South Darfur recently arrived in Chad. Here’s a snapshot of life in the clinic during the first two weeks of July:
Photos: Life at the Clinic in Adré
General Medical Care. More than 1,500 patients received treatment. Respiratory infections—driven by dust storms and overcrowded conditions—remain the most common illness, followed by gastrointestinal infections, malaria, typhoid, reproductive challenges, and urinary tract issues. A lack of widely available clean water, proper sanitation, and nutrition support continues to drive health problems such as these.
Emergency and Minor Procedures. The Emergency Department handled 135 urgent cases, including malaria, low blood pressure, shortness of breath, and diabetes.
Chronic Disease Support. The clinic served 270 patients, including check-ups, ongoing follow-up, and providing free treatments for diabetes, stress, and anemia patients. These patients received essential medications, monitoring, and ongoing support to help manage their conditions, an often overlooked need in emergency settings.
Women’s Health Services. The Obstetrics and Gynecology unit provided personalized care to 120 women in the areas of pregnancy, childbirth, gynecological problems, tests, and sonic waves.
Nursing & Minor Operations. Meanwhile, the nursing team treated 267 patients, including administering medicines, performing minor procedures such as removing foreign objects under the skin, and delivering other forms of minor wound care.
Health Education & Awareness. The Awareness and Counseling Department continues to be a crucial pillar of the clinic. Volunteer staff held several group sessions, such as:
Training workshops to enhance diagnostic and treatment capabilities for the clinic team.
In the second week of July, clinic volunteers held a live theatrical presentation titled Prevention is Better Than Cure for patients and caregivers.
A number of individual and group awareness sessions were held concerning humanitarian issues in Adré.
For You Children’s Feeding Center
In June, the Children’s Feeding Center was forced to temporarily suspend operations due to a lack of funding. The meals being provided here were the only reliable source of nourishment for hundreds of children. Funds are urgently needed to reopen the center.
Photos: Life at the Clinic in Adré
Current conditions in the Adré camps
What began as a desperate escape from West Darfur is now a protracted humanitarian emergency in eastern Chad. Sudanese refugees fleeing ethnic cleansing and famine face new threats like hunger and disease after arriving at one of the 30+ informal border crossings, many having walked for days carrying only what they could, including mothers and children weakened by hunger and trauma. The scale of this crisis is staggering:
The number of Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad has surged to nearly 875,000 people.
87% of those registered are women and children, of which 25% are adult women.
Over 230,000 refugees are currently settled in the Adré area, more than five times the town’s original population.
14% have specific needs, including people with disabilities, chronic illness, or those who are unaccompanied.
The Chadian government and United Nations estimate that by the end of 2025, the total number of refugees and returnees across Chad could eclipse one million people.
Source: UNHCR CHAD| CORE Sudan Emergency Situation (July 20, 2025)
Resources are stretched to the breaking point, especially following recent USAID funding cuts. Most refugees remain in overcrowded and under-resourced sites. Beyond immediate requirements for food, water, and medical care, there is an urgent need for kitchen utensils and sleeping/shelter material. While it is much more secure here than RSF-controlled areas of Darfur, many of the refugees understandably feel vulnerable. Adré sits a few miles outside of Sudan and, while the Chadian government has troops monitoring parts of the border, small numbers of RSF fighters can still slip into the country easily. Some refugees have reported receiving death threats from the paramilitaries.
These heroes need your help
The needs in Adré are urgent and growing every week. Right now, it takes a minimum of $8,500 each month to keep the For You Child Feeding Center & Clinic running at minimal capacity. This covers everything from medical supplies and staff support to hot meals for vulnerable children to basic medication for patients that couldn’t afford it otherwise.
These programs can expand with even more funding. Thousands are still waiting for care. Countless children go to bed hungry every night. You can help change that. In a place where hope is in short supply, your generosity means more than you can imagine.
$8,500: fully fund the Feeding Center and Clinic for an entire month
$4,000: support the children's feeding program for one month
$1,000: provide one week of all basic medicines needed at the clinic
$500: feed 500 hungry children for one week
$250: help expand the children's feed program
$100: deliver nutritional supplements that help fight malnutrition
$50: deliver anti-malarial, typhus and other speciality medications
Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence with Adré in the memo line and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900. You can also donate stock or crypto.
Operation Broken Silence a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. Our EIN is 80-0671198.
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When war erupted in Sudan in April 2023, Darfur quickly became the epicenter of some of the conflict’s worst atrocities, sparking off a protracted humanitarian emergency for refugees in eastern Chad. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/adre-childrens-feeding-program-and-clinic-update-july-2025
Over 230,000 Sudanese refugees have fled into Adré, eastern Chad. Most are women and children. A small clinic and feeding center are saving lives, but they need your help to keep going. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/adre-childrens-feeding-program-and-clinic-update-july-2025
The small clinic in Adré continues saving and changing lives. Each week, the dedicated team works with compassion to deliver lifesaving care to Sudanese refugees, despite limited resources and growing demand. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/adre-childrens-feeding-program-and-clinic-update-july-2025
What does hope look like in a refugee camp? It looks like a child receiving her only hot meal of the day. A mother being treated for malaria. A community standing together. Help us keep hope alive. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/adre-childrens-feeding-program-and-clinic-update-july-2025
