“I was about to surrender to the idea that higher education was not necessary because I could not attend college,” she says.

Then came a scholarship that changed her mind.

Since the war erupted between rival militaries in Sudan in April 2023, more than 14 million people have been forced to flee their homes, making it the world’s largest displacement crisis.

‘It made me believe in myself again’

Sarah is one of hundreds of refugee and internally displaced students in Sudan who have kept their degrees alive through the DAFI programme – scholarships backed by the UNHCR–Mastercard Foundation partnership and run with Windle Trust International.

The money covers tuition and living costs. But for Sarah, studying information management at Comboni College in the capital Khartoum, it offered something harder to put a price on.

“The biggest part is financial support. Also, it gives me psychological support. It made me believe in myself again. It made me dream again.”

Azhari Ibrahim knows that feeling too. Displaced from North Darfur to Port Sudan, he was partway through a civil engineering degree at the University of Kordofan when the conflict threatened to derail it entirely.

“Maybe I would finish my university, but I would face so many challenges without the scholarship,” he says.

For Azhari, the support went beyond fees. “It helped me in so many aspects, community support and psychological support, because I found someone nearby me.”

Not alone

That sense of not being alone runs through the programme. Beyond tuition, students get mentoring, leadership training and the chance to connect with others walking the same path – young people trying to finish a degree while their country is at war.

Through peer workshops, students like Sarah and Azhari have become advocates in their own right, helping others navigate scholarship applications and university admissions.

“Every workshop I went to, I came out stronger, full of dreams and more dreams,” Sarah says.

Azhari puts it more bluntly: “Students in Sudan are suffering. They need support at all levels – community support, economic support, and psychological support.”

‘Peace is the only solution’

Both students see education as something bigger than their own futures. “Education is important, especially for Sudanese. It will help them rebuild their community,” Sarah says.

She now works as a kindergarten teacher alongside her studies and dreams of one day opening her own school. “I love working with kids. I hope one day I will have my own school.”

For Azhari, finishing his degree is also about giving back, putting his engineering skills to work rebuilding the communities the war has damaged.

Both are clear about what Sudan needs most. “Peace is the only solution,” Sarah says. “If there is no peace, we cannot build anything else.”

Azhari’s message to other young people trying to hold onto their education through war is simple: “Life will not stop. Don’t try to stop your learning and don’t try to stop your study. You have to engage, become strong, and patient to fulfil all your hopes and dreams.”

The UNHCR–Mastercard Foundation partnership continues to support refugee and internally displaced students to pursue higher education, betting that a generation’s future doesn’t have to be defined by the conflict around them.