I escaped the war. My family's still stuck
It took Ismail two years to reach the UK from Sudan, where he fled a life defined by conflict and a constant struggle to survive.
Violence erupted in the country in April 2023 when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out.
The 37-year-old began his journey from the city of Al-Fashir, where he was born and raised.
In Independent Studio's latest series UNHEARD, Ismail shares how he risked everything on a dangerous journey to the UK in hopes of supporting his family, many of whom remain in Sudan's war-ravaged Zamzam refugee camp.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Is Father's Day getting more respect? Depends on who you ask
Is Father's Day starting to get a little more attention as a holiday? Not if you check some social media. In an expletive-filled post on TikTok and X, rapper Plies, best known for his collaborations with T-Pain and DJ Khaled on hits 'Shawty' and 'I'm So Hood,' complains about how Father's Day on Sunday carries about as much clout as Groundhog Day, saying it might as well be removed from the calendar. ' The disrespect to Father's Day is real ' declares a separate Reddit post, which adds, 'We get it, fathers aren't important to corporations, but damn, can't I at least get some free donuts or chicken strips?' Perhaps Shake Shack's buy one Double ShackBurger get a second one free in stores and on its app through Monday doesn't count? Or Wendy's buy one get one free deal on premium sandwiches through its app on Sunday? Or Burger King's buy one get one free deals on Whoppers through the app? It's true the offers aren't quite as broad as on Mother's Day. But the spending disparity with Mother's Day may be narrowing, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The organizations forecast that a record-breaking $24 billion will be spent on Father's Day this year, surpassing the previous mark of $22.9 billion in 2023. They say consumers plan to spend an average of $199.38 on their dads and father figures this year. Of course, that still pales in comparison to this year's $259.04 average planned for moms, which totals about $34.1 billion, or $10.1 billion more than Father's Day spending. That is a 21% smaller gap than the $12.8 billion difference there was between Mother's Day and Father's Day spending in 2023. Other studies disagree, though. RetailMeNot forecasts a $25 drop in spending for dads this year, down to about $232 per shopper, while moms get an average of $360 per shopper, up $43 this year.
The Review Geek
21 minutes ago
- The Review Geek
Our Unwritten Seoul – K-drama Episode 8 Recap & Review
An Unconventional Whole Episode 8 of Our Unwritten Seoul begins with a look at Ho-su's past. He was never fully happy with Bun-hong being part of their family, given he was always so close with his father. After the death of his mother, the 'three eyes' in his family became two, and it upset the equilibrium of their group. When Bun-hong ended up as his step-mum, Ho-su wasn't particularly happy, wishing it could go back to 'two eyes' once again. Ho-su and his father wind up in a car accident not long after, explaining Ho-su's injuries. He moved in to this house with Bun-hong, opposite the twins, and did his best to seem fine on the outside. He didn't want to seem like a burden to her and tried to sail through without causing drama. Back in the present, Ho-su and Mi-ji are officially seeing each other but things are awkward between them. Mi-ji heads back to Seoul for the time being while Mi-rae stalls and learns from her mum that having one unemployed daughter 'is enough'. This doesn't help her case for quitting her job! Mi-rae shows up at the strawberry farm and winds up with a big plan about helping his farm to thrive. In return, he offers to bring her out on a stargazing expedition that night. It's a nice moment and the pair certainly grow closer during this time. Ro-sa is discharged and offered to enrol in the Adult Guardianship program. She doesn't know who else to ring so she calls Ho-su. Unfortunately, Chung-gu shows up and questions Ro-sa about Sang-wol. He gives her an ultimatum to sell her restaurant to the company, promising to bring up Sang-wol again before stirring the pot further. He explains his ties to Ho-su, calling him one of his 'favourite junior colleagues'. Ro-sa, as a result, is frosty toward Ho-su. Ok-hui's behaviour with the twins though is the complete opposite to Bun-hong and Ho-su. The pair over-indulge and go over the top with their affection, and it's clear there's an undercurrent of uncomfortableness that's never fully been addressed. Bun-hong tries to compensate for the void in their life, while Ho-su wants her to live freely without his 'burden'. Further flashbacks do help to flesh out this awkwardness. On the anniversary of the ancestral rites for his mum and dad, Ho-su was hurt and saw this as performative. He called out Bun-hong for this and pushed her away, encouraging her to leave him alone. But then when she did leave the house one night, having got the wrong bus, he realized how alone he actually is. As for Bun-hong, the reason for her delay was actually because she learned her mum was in hospital. Her sister, unfortunately, completely snubbed her and refused to help, leaving her in an unenviable position. Kicked out of one family and struggling to fit into another; Bun-hong ended up in an impossible position. Interestingly, this is also the first time that a young Mi-ji wound up seeing how vulnerable Ho-su actually was. Mi-ji and Ho-su's ties are very different now though and they awkwardly navigate their newfound romance. The pair hang out and while Ho-su is happy to call her his girlfriend, Mi-ji lies and pretends to be Mi-rae when a couple of Ho-su's old work friends show up. Mi-ji explains after that she didn't want to be an embarrassment to him but this only feeds into what he said earlier about being a burden, so they cut their day short. Mi-ji bemoans how she's ruined the day but things get worse at work when Mi-ji notices that a returning Park Sang-yeong looks exactly like her father. This now puts Mi-rae's words before about their father into more perspective, and Mi-ji begins spiralling. After composing herself, she speaks to Park at lunch about the HQ project. He wants one of them to stop working on this (namely Sang-yeon himself) so it'll give people less reason to gossip. He promises to take care of the repercussions and do what he can to help her. Mi-ji appreciates the sentiment but instead decides that she's going to drop out and wants him to make sure that she doesn't get penalized in any way. He also has a gift for her too, which happens to be a bookmark. To make things even more awkward, this guy also has a daughter called Mi-rae too. Park Sang-yeong is in the pocket of senior management though, and they scheme between Mi-ji's back that night. Park explains that she won't be a problem anymore now that she's dropped out (clearly using reverse psychology with her) and they contemplate moving her out to the Childal Branch 'before she causes trouble'. They suss that the identical twins may have switched and intend to test them later on in the episode. That night, after all the awkwardness, Mi-ji rings her sister and questions her about Park. She demands to know her side of the story. Mi-rae has kept this a secret because she obviously misses their father so much, and Mi-ji feels the exact same way. They've both kept this pain from each other and they break down crying on the phone together. At work, Tae-i is surprised that Mi-ji has dropped out of the HQ Project. Given she and Mi-rae are about to switch back again, she tells him to be nicer to her (ie. Mi-rae) in the future. Ok-hui shows up to see Bun-hong and helps wash her hair. Midway through, Bun-hong admits that she's been trying to act like Ho-su's mum all this time and only realized what a bad impression she's done until now. Ok-hui is surprisingly encouraging to her, pointing out what a great family they have. Meanwhile, Ho-su clears the air with Mi-ji and explains he just wanted them to have a normal date and it wound being really weird and awkward. He hands over a guidebook and instead of a handshake, the pair wind up hugging. Mi-rae shows up to see Se-jin and they aren't quite on the same wavelength. The thing is, Se-jin was earlier visited by Director Yoon and apparently there are plans for someone taking over for him as he's not sure he'll be able to finish this year's farming. Apparently he's thinking about leaving to go back to the States to work again. However, Mi-rae hears this through someone else so it's unclear if that's actually true or not. That night, Tae-i shows up and confronts Mi-ji. He arrives outside her house and explains that he's Kim Su-yeon's brother. She's the Senior Specialist who left the company. Back at work, things take a horrible turn when the senior management confront Mi-ji about her identity and encourage her to scan her fingerprint to enter the data processing room, leaving things on a tenuous cliffhanger. The Episode Review Our Unwritten Seoul closes out this weekend's double-bill with a big episode that ends things on a huge cliffhanger. It's unclear whether Mi-ji will be able to get out of this in one piece, and what the repercussions could be if she's outed as the wrong twin. The situation at work is made that much more complicated by the revealed about Park Sang-yeong and the scheming between the upper-management too. It's clear he's not a nice person and very much forcing Mi-rae (when she was working there) to keep her head down and not make any trouble. Of course, Mi-ji is not that same twin, and she may have unintentionally caused trouble for her sister at work. The ties between Ho-su and Mi-ji are at least a little better and cleared up somewhat by the end of the episode, while the drama involving Bun-hong and Ok-hui takes an unexpected turn when the latter is actually nice to her neighbour. As for Mi-rae, we've got more misunderstandings when it comes to the strawberry farm and I can't help but feel this is just going to be resolved by Se-jin explaining it's only a temporary gig rather than a permanent position. Either way though, the ending certainly leaves things on a big cliffhanger and we'll have to wait and see where this one goes next week. Previous Episode Next Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Justin Timberlake praises his 'two dads' in heartwarming tribute as he leads stars celebrating Father's Day
Justin Timberlake gave a shout out to both of the father figures in his life - dad Charles Randall Timberlake and stepdad Paul Harless - in a heartwarming tribute he shared on Father's Day. In an epic throwback, the 44-year-old pop star Instastoried a snap of himself decked out in Star Search-era Western wear while posing with the Baptist church choir director, who divorced his mother Janet Harless in 1985. One year later, Janet wed Paul, so Justin made sure to post a snap of his stepdad with his 10-year-old son Silas in the tribute. Timberlake shared a third snap of one of his dads playing golf with what appeared to be his four-year-old son Phineas. The 10-time Grammy winner also posted a rare Instagram slideshow of himself embracing little Silas and Phineas. 'There's no bigger reward or responsibility that I have ever felt in my life above being a father. To teach and to learn at the same time… I feel beyond blessed,' Justin - who boasts 193.8M social media followers - gushed on Sunday. 'I see my two dads, my grandfathers, [and] my uncles more and more clearly every year that I get to experience this life with them. And I see myself more and more clearly in every moment I have with my sons, watching who they continue to become. 'You can't put a price tag on that type of generational wealth! Here's to all the Dads out there! Cheers! Happy Father's Day!' Timberlake's wife of 12 years - Jessica Biel - reposted his slideshow with the caption: 'Happy Father's Day to the best dad out there. We love you so much!' The 43-year-old Better Sister actress also Instastoried a snap of herself with the No Angels singer and their son Phineas captioned: 'Celebrating you today and every day!' Last month, Jessica said she planned on 'taking the kids' so he 'can just go have a great' Father's Day and, considering Justin was in Denmark on Saturday, he's definitely in Europe. 'Justin loves to golf, so I hope he gets to golf that day,' Biel told E! News. 'And of course it's fun to spend time with your kids, but from everything I know about Mother's Day where you just really need a break and want a solo break, I will take the kids.' Timberlake - who gets 44.5M monthly listeners on Spotify - is next scheduled to bring his $205.2M-grossing, 122-date The Forget Tomorrow World Tour to Poland's PGE Narodowy in Warsaw this Tuesday. Timberlake's wife of 12 years - Jessica Biel - reposted his slideshow with the caption: 'Happy Father's Day to the best dad out there. We love you so much!'
