AfricaNews
Amidst all political turmoil, people in Khartoum take their tea in a quiet pace. Africanews.com reporters Reem Abbas and Mohamed ElBadwi show you another Khartoum, with its inhabitants having tea on the side of the road.
No one knows when tea ladies first became a staple on the streets of Khartoum. Some think it was after the current government closed down the bars and entertainment centers when they came to power and some think it was the product of rural migrants trying to make ends meet in the capital.
The size of Khartoum doubled in the last two decades, hundreds of thousands have arrived escaping poverty, war and conflict only to find themselves with no real opportunities in the big city. The men work as builders and do other menial jobs and the women have to invent jobs.
Cooking once a week for working women, becoming a henna artists, baby-sitting and selling tea for people on the road. Tea-ladies, found in all parts in Khartoum, even inside organizations, cultural centers and universities provide fast and tasty products for very low prices. That is not the only thing they provide. They are also confidantes for young lovers, girls seeking advice, bored government employees, frustrated working women, they listen, smile, pour you another cup of your favorite drink and give you their advice, simple, yet worthwhile.
In recent years, tea ladies have become important characters in short stories or novels written by young Sudanese writers. In one of Khalid El-Tinae's short stories, the story centers around a tea lady, her past blends with her present as she is connected to every single character in the story.
