News & Updates
Check out the latest from Sudan and our movement
The 13th annual Eden's Run 5K
On November 12, our supporters celebrated thirteen years of Eden’s Run 5K, a race helping to bring clean water to 7,000 people in the Nuba Mountains region of Sudan.
On November 12, our supporters celebrated thirteen years of Eden’s Run 5K, a race helping to bring clean water to 7,000 people in the Nuba Mountains region of Sudan. This was our first in-person run since 2019 due to COVID-19.
It ended up being an unusually chilly day, so cold that most of our runners let us know they’d be sitting this one out despite previously buying tickets. Thank you to all of you who showed up despite the cold weather, and thank you to those who registered and gave through the run!
Eden’s Run 5K was made possible with a generous donation from Siskind-Susser Immigration Lawyers. Our friend Zack Jennings designed and served the passionfruit mimosas at the run. We would also like to thank the University of Memphis’ Center for Service Learning and Volunteerism, Fellowship Memphis Student Ministries, and our board members and volunteers for managing the run.
DOWNLOAD PHOTOS
Hit the button below to download your photos, or find them on Facebook.
As we continue to rebuild following a difficult few years, we look forward to growing Eden’s Run 5K into something new and great with you —our dedicated supporters— to benefit our Sudanese partners.
If you would like to join us on this journey, we encourage you to make a one-time donation or become a monthly giver to our Sudanese partners.
About Us
Operation Broken Silence is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. Give here.
Preparing For The 2022 Giving Season
With the giving season just around the corner, there is a lot on the line right now in Sudan.
Friends and supporters,
With the giving season around the corner, there is a lot on the line right now in Sudan.
October marked the first anniversary of the military coup. As we noted, this is a difficult moment for Sudan’s besieged pro-democracy movement. More than 7,000 peaceful protesters have been seriously injured and dozens more murdered by junta security forces. Regime-backed violence is surging to horrifying levels in the country’s oppressed periphery regions. Sudan is backsliding as the coup leaders attempt to pull the country into the dark days of the Bashir regime, merely for their own benefit.
But there have also been encouraging signs of strong resistance and flashes of real hope this year. It can not be understated that the courage of the Sudanese people remains unfazed. They never stopped protesting against a resurgent regime. From the protesters in Khartoum to the oppressed citizens who refuse to be silenced in the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, and Darfur, the people are proof that a different Sudan is possible in our lifetime.
As we prepare to the enter the giving season, we have an incredible opportunity to help 7,000 of these people in the Nuba Mountains region. Our goal through the end of the year is wrapping up fundraising for their clean water project.
Accomplishing this will provide the missing building block needed to make progress after years of war. Clean water is the gift that keeps on giving, helping to get their schools, markets, and places of worship back up and running. Make an early gift right now and it will be matched! You can also find key dates to prepare for this season of giving below.
Nov 1- Dec 31: Friends & Family Fundraising
It’s not only the best time to give, but also the best time to invite loved ones to pitch in! You can start a fundraising page and send the link to friends and family asking them to donate.
Your page comes with the campaign video and information about the project. And with donations being matched the hard work is already done!
Nov 1-Dec 31: Matched Crypto Giving
Our friends at The Giving Block are matching all crypto donations to Operation Broken Silence from now through the end of the year, up to $50,000 total. This is an excellent way to double your impact on the water project! Here’s how to give:
Select a token and enter the amount.
Type in your info or choose to give anonymously.
Make your gift!
You can elect to receive an automatic tax receipt at the email address you provide. This donation confirmation will help you close the loop when calculating your taxes.
Crypto charitable donations are processed quickly and safely with The Giving Block. Please note that all crypto donations are nonrefundable.
Nov 29: Giving Tuesday
Join us for one of the biggest giving days of the year! Our goal is to raise $5,000 toward the water project on Giving Tuesday alone. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and join our email list for updates. Donations will be matched!
And if you’re in Memphis, drop by our free Giving Tuesday event at Wiseacre Brewing Company on Broad Avenue between 5-7:30PM. RSVP here.
Dec 26-31: Year End Gifts
Operation Broken Silence is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of US law:
ONLINE GIFTS - Make by midnight on December 31.
MAIL A CHECK - Date and postmark by December 31. Make payable to Operation Broken Silence and mail to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900. Checks from donor-advised funds can be dated and postmarked by December 31 and sent to our PO Box as well.
STOCKS & INVESTMENT FUNDS - Investment gifts must be processed by close of market on Friday, December 30. We strongly encourage you to make investment gifts before this deadline to ensure your broker has time to process it. We accept common investments such as stock and mutual funds.
If you have questions about giving or would like to direct your gift toward a different project, please contact us for assistance.
With so much uncertainty in Sudan, your generosity can bring some much-needed support and encouragement to our Sudanese friends. Let’s make this season of giving a bountiful one, for them.
Onward,
Mark C. Hackett
Executive Director
Followup Sudan Sanctions Letter To Biden Administration
Operation Broken Silence is joining 100+ NGOs, Sudanese activist leaders, and experts in calling on the Biden Administration to initiate targeted sanctions on coup leaders in Sudan.
With the security and political crisis in Sudan worsening, Operation Broken Silence is once again joining 100 NGOs, Sudanese activist leaders, and human rights experts in calling on the Biden Administration to impose targeted sanctions on the military leaders of the illegal coup.
One year ago today, Generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, aka Hemeti, overthrew Sudan’s transitional government. Both men were holdovers from the brutal Bashir regime, which was swept from power during the country’s peaceful 2019 revolution.
These military figures are connected to previous and ongoing human rights abuses and war crimes. Since their coup, conservative estimates put the number of protesters seriously wounded by security forces under their command at over 7,000 people. But it is marginalized Sudanese in the long oppressed hinterlands who continue to suffer the most under a dangerous mix of severe regime violence and aggressive governmental incompetence.
Recent fighting in Blue Nile state has consumed the state capital and several more communities, killing over 250 people and leaving thousands more homeless. In Abyei, outbreaks of political violence have tripled since last year alone. Regime-backed attacks on defenseless civilians in Darfur have surged this year. And violence by regime-backed Misseriya tribes against Nuba communities in West Kordofan recently became so severe that it prompted a temporary and dangerous ceasefire collapse between the regime and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North. (Note: Operation Broken Silence works in the Nuba Mountains nearby, which is controlled by the SPLM-N.)
There are zero signs that such abuses will end, with diplomatic efforts and ongoing peaceful protests across the country failing to change the dark path these men have put Sudan on. Reality demands a more robust international response, including a minimum of targeted sanctions against the primary individuals responsible for derailing Sudan’s fragile transition to democracy and denying the aspirations of the Sudanese people.
Sanctions should not be used in a vacuum. They should be connected to rapidly evolving events on the ground, the aspirations and needs of the Sudanese people, and a broader overall strategy to help restore the democratic transition in Sudan.
THE LETTER
Operation Broken Silence is again joining 100 NGOs, Sudanese activist leaders, and human rights experts in calling on the Biden Administration to impose targeted sanctions on the coup leaders. Our last letter was delivered in September 2022 and has received no response.
Read the letter and see the full list of signatories.
Get Involved
Operation Broken Silence has been working next to our Sudanese partners on the ground for over a decade. Our mission has always been focused on the long run, which is why empowering local solutions in the oppressed Nuba Mountains region is our top priority.
Building clean water infrastructure goes beyond ensuring basic health needs. Clean water improves security by keeping people closer to the safety of their communities. It empowers women by putting time back into their day. And clean water means children can go to school instead of spending hours searching for dirty water.
We’re taking on this water project because we listened to the people living here and because no one else will serve them. The fastest way to help is to make a quick one-time donation online or setup a monthly gift.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP
Start a fundraising page and ask friends and family to give! These last few months of the year are the perfect time to fundraise.
Join The Renewal, our monthly giving family that never stops fighting for change.
Make checks payable to Operation Broken Silence, write Water in the memo line, and mail to P.O. Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900
The Coup In Sudan - One Year Anniversary
The regime is still in power in Sudan. Learn more and discover ways to help.
Friends and supporters,
Today marks the first anniversary of the coup in Sudan. As expected, countless protesters are in the streets demanding their country back from the illegitimate junta.
Internet monitoring group Netblocks has confirmed the regime is blocking internet access across Sudan. Reuters reporters in Khartoum witnessed protesters burning tires and chanting "power belongs to the people, the military belongs in the barracks," even as security forces fired heavy tear gas into unarmed and peaceful crowds.
This difficult milestone comes amidst a particularly brutal few weeks across Sudan. Conservative estimates put the number of protesters seriously wounded since the coup at over 7,000 people. But it is marginalized Sudanese in the long oppressed hinterlands who continue to suffer the most under a dangerous mix of severe regime violence and aggressive governmental incompetence.
Recent fighting in Blue Nile state has consumed the state capital and several more communities, killing over 250 people and leaving thousands more homeless. In Abyei, outbreaks of political violence have tripled since last year alone. Regime-backed attacks on defenseless civilians in Darfur has surged this year. And violence by regime-backed Misseriya tribes against Nuba communities in West Kordofan recently became so severe that it prompted a temporary and dangerous ceasefire collapse between the regime and the usually restrained Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North. (Note: Operation Broken Silence works in the Nuba Mountains nearby, which is controlled by the SPLM-N.)
Sudanese demonstrators attend a rally to demand the return to civilian rule nearly a year after a military coup led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in Khartoum, Sudan, Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
The big picture results? The economy is in tatters, more Sudanese are under threat of direct violence today than they were a year ago, and a third of the country’s children cannot even attend school. Sudan is backsliding. The generals in Khartoum do little more than fuel conflict across the country and between themselves as they jockey for power. One is forced to conclude that these self-proclaimed “guardians of the revolution” are and will continue to be a catastrophic failure in every way imaginable.
This time last year we asked the obvious question: how many more must die before Sudan is truly free? This question remains unanswered today, and it is entirely the fault of a regime that chooses to remain in power daily. It is ordinary Sudanese who will continue paying the ultimate price and bearing the most devastating consequences of that decision.
The crises in Sudan are perhaps more complicated than ever before. Oddly, there is perhaps more clarity now as well. The military heads of the security forces have not only proven they have no skill to govern, but also that they can never be trusted again. The generals may believe the Sudanese people are their worst enemy; but, in reality, all they have to do is look in the mirror to see who the true enemy is.
With this clarity comes hope. One year after the coup, the courage of the Sudanese people remains unfazed. They never stopped protesting. Their voices are relentless in the face of a monster. They are proof that a different Sudan is possible in our lifetime. And it falls to us to deliver the support they need to reach their aspirations.
Get Involved
Operation Broken Silence has been working next to our Sudanese partners on the ground for over a decade. Our mission has always been focused on the long run, which is why empowering local solutions in the oppressed Nuba Mountains region is our top priority.
Building clean water infrastructure goes beyond ensuring basic health needs. Clean water improves security by keeping people closer to the safety of their communities. It empowers women by putting time back into their day. And clean water means children can go to school instead of spending hours searching for dirty water.
We’re taking on this water project because we listened to the people living here and because no one else will serve them. The fastest way to help is to make a quick one-time donation online or setup a monthly gift.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP
Start a fundraising page and ask friends and family to give! These last few months of the year are the perfect time to fundraise.
Join The Renewal, our monthly giving family that never stops fighting for change.
Make checks payable to Operation Broken Silence, write Water in the memo line, and mail to P.O. Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900
This has not been an easy year, but a major source of encouragement for me has been watching our Sudanese friends strive for a better future against the resurgence of a genocidal regime.
What they are fighting for is remarkable, but their efforts remain under severe threat. Let’s each play our small part in helping to give our Sudanese friends the best chance for real, lasting change.
Onward,
Mark C. Hackett
Executive Director
Nuba Education Update - October 2022
Get the latest news from our education program in the Nuba Mountains and Yida Refugee Camp.
In 2015, Operation Broken Silence began funding four Sudanese teachers in Yida Refugee Camp. They were giving lessons underneath a tree with a half of a broken chalkboard.
Their small, but bold effort blossomed into the Endure Primary and Renewal Secondary Schools thanks to your support. 24 Nuba teachers work here every day —supported by an additional 6 staff— and they run the show, not us. Over 900 students are currently in their classrooms every week. Endure Primary is the top performing elementary school in the region and a treasured possession of the Nuba community. More than 8,500 children have been served by the school to date. Renewal Secondary is nearing the end of a successful three-year phased opening that began in 2019.
Beyond these schools, Operation Broken Silence supports Yida’s only other secondary school, a national exam preparation program for all primary school students at other schools in Yida, and has begun delivering classroom supplies directly into the Nuba Mountains. It’s been a busy, but fruitful year.
One of the largest demographics in the Nuba Mountains and Yida Refugee Camp are children under the age of 16. Our Nuba education partner’s vision has always been to ensure that more children have the opportunity to attain a quality education.
Amir’s Story
Amir was born in the Nuba Mountains roughly a year before the war started. His family arrived in Yida in 2012 after the Sudanese government bombed their community. Amir doesn’t remember his village because he was so young when his family was forced to flee.
Yida has always been Amir’s home. Today, he is enrolled at the Endure Primary School, a place he loves. He says:
“Our teachers arrive at sunrise every day to prepare their lessons. Mostly they stay long after we leave until the sun goes down. They never give up. We would be lost without them. When I was struggling in my math, two of my teachers spent an hour with me after school every day for two weeks to help me.”
Amir’s family is talking about returning home because of the ceasefire in the Nuba Mountains. It will be a bittersweet moment when that day comes, as Amir yearns to see his family’s land but feels at home in Yida.
“I know that I am not meant to stay here in Yida forever. The time will come when I leave. But school is important now. I say thank you to all the people around the world who give us school supplies and support our teachers. I would not be here today without all of them.”
Recent News
Schools In Yida. It’s been a bittersweet year as many families are departing Yida and returning to their villages in the Nuba Mountains. Attendance at Endure Primary has remained at roughly 650 students daily throughout the year, while Renewal Secondary has risen to 260 students daily.
National exams were conducted in August. Out of the 500 students who sat in for testing, 412 passed with room to spare. English comprehension, specifically writing, was the primary struggle for the students who did not pass. This was in large part due to newer students who entered our classrooms throughout the year to replace those returning to the Nuba Mountains. The teachers are currently examining ways to provide additional support to these new students so they can advance during the next round.
Repairs were recently completed in classrooms that needed extra support. This included more weatherproofing, new roofs, and mended walls. This was made possible with some extra giving from our donors. The teachers and students thank you!
In early September, the teachers at Renewal Secondary held another health awareness workshop for students. This workshop was accompanied by the construction of an additional latrine at the schools and covered basic sanitation practices.
Photos: Classroom repairs in Yida Refugee Camp.
Broader Education Support In Yida. After years of financial struggles, the only other secondary school in Yida remains afloat with our support. Vision Secondary School was founded several years ago with pledges of support from other outside nonprofits and churches, none of which materialized. Sadly, there’s a long history of unfulfilled promises to the Nuba people. This isn’t the first mess created by others that Operation Broken Silence and our Nuba education partner has had to help clean up.
Some of the teachers we support at Renewal Secondary continue serving in classrooms at Vision to keep the school afloat. Since most of our teachers specialize in certain areas, they are bouncing back and forth between both schools to fill gaps left behind by Vision’s unpaid teachers, most of whom have now departed. Additional funding for Vision is practically non-existent, but the temporary assistance we are providing continues to bring some much needed stability to students there.
Endure Primary School continues to serve as the central national exam preparation facility for primary students in Yida. The camp’s eight additional primary schools receive support and resources annually for student test prep. This ancillary program has positively impacted an estimated 1,400 students this year!
Photos: Health awareness workshop and toilet construction at Renewal Secondary.
Classroom Supply Delivery To Nuba. Operation Broken Silence recently began sending a limited amount of school supplies to the new Tabulla Primary School in the Nuba Mountains. This is one of the villages that will also benefit from the water project we are currently fundraising for. To date, a number of items have been delivered including books, chalk, sporting equipment, and other basic supplies like pencils and paper.
Challenges. For those of you familiar with these updates, you know that we don’t shy away from sharing the challenges our Nuba education partner faces. While this has been a very successful year in all aspects of the education program, there are two long-term challenges that have led to some frustration for both of us.
First, it is common to find students of various ages in all grade levels at the schools in Yida. School openings and closings brought on by the war over the past 10 years have severely disrupted the childhood education experience. Today, children are placed in classrooms based on previous academic experience and need, not by age. While this leads to much better educational outcomes for students, it layers in some complexities with regards to national testing preparations and styles of teaching. This is a challenge largely outside of our control and will persist for years to come, but our Nuba education partner and the teachers are determined to find ways to meet this hard reality head on.
Second, fundraising for the teachers and students has slowly improved throughout the year, but most of these gains have been a wash due to global inflation. Rising costs coupled to smaller donations sizes means our Nuba education partner is running on roughly 80% of the funding the schools had in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic and political instability in the United States careened into our mission and movement. Unlike the above problem though, this is one that is solvable with your help.
Photo: Students at the Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp.
Get Involved
Operation Broken Silence is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We are the only organization in the world supporting childhood education in Yida Refugee Camp.
Without the Endure Primary and Renewal Secondary Schools, the entire education system in Yida would collapse. Teachers and kids are able to create the conditions for their people to thrive when we support them and the additional educational programs of our Nuba partner. The fastest way to help is to make a quick one-time donation online, or setup a small monthly gift to help provide them the consistent support they need.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP
Start a fundraising page and ask friends and family to give! These last few months of the year are the perfect time to fundraise.
Join The Renewal, our monthly giving family that never stops fighting for change.
Make checks payable to Operation Broken Silence, write Education in the memo line, and mail to P.O. Box 770900 Memphis, TN, 38177-0900.
A Call To Our Student Supporters
You have always played a central role in our movement. We need you once more.
Hello college and high school supporters!
You have always played a central role in our movement: hosting fundraisers, rallying your peers to fundraise, and introducing our mission to tens of thousands of people. All to support the Sudanese changemakers we partner with so their education, healthcare, and development programs can thrive.
We recently launched a new campaign for a critical clean water project in the western Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Our student supporters are again leading the way, making up 95% of our initial round of fundraisers. I am both amazed and unsurprised. Amazed at your passion and generosity and unsurprised with your consistency in showing up.
The campaign is off to a strong start, and I am currently talking with a half dozen student groups at various colleges and high schools about launching fundraising teams. But we still need more to complete this project.
CONTACT US
If you are part of a student group or club and are interested in helping to fundraise for this project, can you complete this short Google form? One of our staff will follow up with you soon!
We need to wrap up fundraising for the water project as soon as possible, but we will fundraise until every dollar needed is raised. Your group, club, sorority, or fraternity can help us reach the finish line!
Thank you so much for your support over the years. Our Sudanese partners have always been impressed by the number of young people joining our cause. I hope you will support them once more.
Onward,
Mark C. Hackett
Executive Director