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Wafaa's Story: “I do HMA for the next generation”

At 27, Wafaa has chosen a profession in which women remain a small minority in Sudan.

Originally from Dilling, South Kordofan, she joined JASMAR in 2021 and is now part of MTT 2. She has previously worked in Kadugli and expects to deploy in Khartoum.

In the current EOD Level 3 training, she is the only female participant.

That does not intimidate her.

Wafaa says she entered the sector partly because she wanted to challenge herself, but also to challenge expectations within communities about what women can and cannot do.

During previous deployments, those attitudes have sometimes confronted her directly.

On one occasion in South Kordofan, women in a community questioned whether it was appropriate or safe for her to work as the only woman in a team of men. She remembers feeling frustrated but chose not to respond because she wanted to preserve the team's relationship with the community.

One of her colleagues responded instead. He explained that Wafaa had chosen the work herself, that nobody had forced her to be there, and that she had come with the team to clean and protect the community. She was part of the team like everyone else.

For Wafaa, the moment mattered. It reinforced her confidence and her sense that her MTT colleagues treated one another like family.

Her motivation to enter HMA goes deeper than challenging gender roles.

Growing up in South Kordofan, Wafaa witnessed an explosive-ordnance accident involving children collecting scrap metal. A boy had collected a grenade and other explosive items and put them in his pocket. An explosion followed, severely injuring him and resulting in the loss of a hand.

The experience contributed directly to her decision to work in HMA.

“I do HMA for the next generation”

Wafaa, EOD Level 3 Training Graduate

The EOD Level 3 course has also substantially increased her technical confidence. Where she previously felt that Levels 1 and 2 had given her the basics, she now understands in much greater detail how explosive devices and different types of fuzes function, including threats associated with fragmentation, phosphorus and dropped drones.

Dropped drones had previously been an area where she felt less confident. She now feels better able to identify the risk, understand the device and determine how it can be safely addressed.

For Wafaa, building advanced technical knowledge and challenging expectations ultimately serve the same objective: becoming better able to protect communities affected by Sudan's growing explosive contamination.