Stockholm, Sweden, 15 October 2015.
The South Sudanese Red Cross and Sudanese Red Crescent Societies were the first to welcome the Listening Study, which took place in September and October respectively.
In South Sudan, Cecilia Brunström and Stefan Agerhem acted as listeners with Alex Modoyi Deti playing the crucial role of organizing and ensuring access to volunteers and other stakeholders. In all, 18 listening sessions were conducted in both the capital Juba and in Bor.
The following week, Jessica Cadesky and Balthazar Bacinoni traveled to Sudan to meet Tarig Isaac , who like Alex, had organized 24 listening sessions with volunteers and stakeholders in Khartoum and El Geneina, West Darfur.
Although all interviews will need to be transcribed and translated before we can begin to analyze these findings, anecdotally we have already begun to see some similarities in these two contexts.
Concerns about security and safety, reported high levels of self-motivation and satisfaction with the work, and strong commitment to helping communities were amongst the issues raised by volunteers and those working with them.
