2013
I grew up in Jordan, away from my country, as my father was working there at the time. That period shaped me as I was studying in one of the radical Islamic schools in a rural area called Mafraq, in the north of Jordan. I was always questioning violence and hate, and I couldn’t understand why people can’t live in peace and harmony.
Going back to Sudan to sit for the Sudanese high school exams, I immediately found myself working for and promoting peace and justice. I joined some Sudanese political parties when I was in school, and published some articles in one of the local newspapers.
I was accepted medicine at Kordofan University, which is in the west of Sudan. It was about 8 hours by bus from my family and hometown Omdurman, which is in the state of Khartoum.
At Kordofan University I learned about the different cultures in my country. I was also exposed to the brutality of the regime, as I was one of the activists in my college and I was elected to the student union at the Medicine College. I was arrested among other students by security and then handed to the police. I thus went through a long and humiliating process, which made me believe more in what I was doing.
The Girifna movement grew very fast - it is now considered to be the fairest and largest peaceful grassroots movement in Sudan.
It was very difficult for my family not to know about me, while I was away from home, facing the brutality of the regime. Therefore I returned to continue my education in Khartoum Province, in one of the universities in Omdurman. But being in Khartoum, close to the centre of power that is destroying the social fabric in our country, made me even more willing to advocate for change.
In 2009, besides some other activities I was engaging in at the time, two of my friends and I started a grassroots movement called the Girifna Movement (The Fed Up Movement). It works for nonviolent direct action for change. The movement grew very fast and it is now considered to be the fairest and largest peaceful grassroots movement in Sudan. While active in Girifna, I was arrested many times by the Sudanese authorities due to my peaceful activism towards change.
In 2010, due to the strong belief I had in peace and nonviolence, I started the Sudanese Youth Forum for Social Peace together with a group of young people. The forum engaged in activities in both Sudan and South Sudan.
Unfortunately the Sudanese central government has kept on rupturing social peace and tearing the social fabric apart by supporting and arming tribes against other tribes, and that led to civil wars and instability. Therefore I have started to focus more on social peace and peace-building. I am now hoping spend my time at the Centre for Applied Human Rights gaining more knowledge about human rights and to develop my work in peace-building.
Eventually I intend to set up youth camps in order to foster peace and understanding among Sudanese youth of different ethnic/tribal backgrounds.
Nagi's story has also been featured in the Yorkshire Post (30/04/2013).
2014
Nagi Musa is an advocator for peaceful change of the Sudanese regime against violations of social peace, who balances the extraordinary work he does with his university studies in Egypt.
Before coming to York, it was Nagi's hope to eventually set up some youth camps in and around Sudan. It was his hope to foster peace and understanding in order to combat the social disrupt caused by the Sudanese government arming tribes against one another.
His time at York gave him some important skills and experience in order for him to achieve this goal, while his ideas benefited greatly from his being able to meet regularly with academic supervisors. "During my 6 months in York I learned a lot," he stated. "Not only did I gain more legal and security knowledge, but I also learnt how to write proposals, among other things."
Since completing the Protective Fellowship Scheme, Nagi has used the skills he learned to focus on empowering his fellow youth. Upon his return from York, he immediately began doing so by conducting workshops in Sudan, targeted at young people and fellow activists. "These workshops were mainly about networking, strategic planning and security, but due to working with different groups from diverse backgrounds, it was also important to talk about racism, wars and social peace."
Other than just improving his future work, Nagi's time at York also served as a crucial period for him to "calm down and relax", without the fear or pressure of being arrested and targeted by the Sudanese government. Being a cofounder of the widely known GIRIFNA movement, a non-violent resistance movement in Sudan, he was always very high profile when in the country and had been arrested many times. This made it very difficult for him to maintain consistency with his work. "Before I came to York, I was involved in a lot of chaos – not knowing what to do or how to plan for my future in or out of Sudan", he told us. "But, when I went to York, everything became much clearer. I could plan for my future."
Whether working in Sudan or Sri Lanka, I found that our situations were all very similar in some respects. It makes you feel like you're not alone – that there is a bigger network all around the world for you.
While at York, Nagi remained very involved in what was happening with GIRIFNA, regularly speaking with his colleagues via Facebook and Skype, but this time in the knowledge that he was safe and free from disruption. He also expressed his gratitude for being able to meet fellow activists during his time on the fellowship programme, with whom he could share ideas and make lifelong contacts. "Whether working in Sudan or Sri Lanka, I found that our situations were all very similar in some respects," he reminisced. "It makes you feel like you're not alone – that there is a bigger network all around the world there for you."
Nagi still keeps in contact via Facebook with many of the activists he met. He was also able to use, in his own work, many transferrable techniques and mechanisms which he learnt from them.
In the future, Nagi hopes to continue the work he is doing to strengthen social peace and understanding within Sudan. After graduation he wants to "help people to engage in their futures" by helping them to have their opinions heard in their country. In particular, he wants to continue his successful trainings and workshops.
Being in York for the Protective Fellowship Scheme has helped him to realise these future goals, while also serving as a safe haven. Fighting for justice against the Sudanese government, while trying to complete a degree, is not a task which many undergraduates have to face in their lifetimes; asides from being a valuable learning experience, Nagi's time in York served simply as a chance to have a well-deserved break from his intense schedule back in Sudan and Egypt.
"I really enjoyed the whole thing." He told us. "I also enjoyed the outdoor activities which were organised for us. They did a great job, even just taking us to see and explore different places. I'm very grateful."
Nagi was interviewed by Selina Pope (student, Department of Politics) in June 2014.
