Since the beginning of the year, we have been working on the expansion of the Kefah School in the Chadian–Sudanese border town of Tiné. At the same time, the fighting has intensified, and more and more displaced people are arriving in the town.
By Simon Bethlehem
Bonn, March 30, 2026 – When we first came to Tiné/Chad about a year ago, everything was still calm, and the Sudanese civil war was hundreds of kilometres away. The Kefah School, built and continuously expanded since 2004 by the German association Darfur-Hilfe e.V. in Tiné/Chad, was teaching around 1,200 children who had fled across the border due to the Darfur conflict or had grown up here as refugee children. Every day, a few newly arrived refugees crossed the border, were registered, and then distributed to the surrounding camps.
In this context, we carefully planned the construction project: six new classrooms, two rooms for a kindergarten, an office for the headmaster, and new sanitary facilities. The expansion of the Kefah School is necessary because even back then 80 or more children had to squeeze into a single classroom, and the new rooms were intended to improve the learning conditions. Our partner, Darfur-Hilfe, also planned to contribute new school furniture to the project.
Deteriorating Conditions
Since November, when the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur province was brutally captured by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after an 18‑month siege, more and more people have fled across the border to Tiné. Most of them belong to the Zaghawa ethnic group, whose traditional homeland lies on both sides of the border. But other ethnic groups from Sudan, as well as third‑country nationals who had migrated to Sudan for work, are also among the new arrivals. Distributing people to the surrounding camps is no longer possible. Now, only plastic sheeting is handed out so people can protect themselves from the sun and settle on the outskirts of town.
Since then, the Kefah School has taken in another 400 children. The classrooms are now even more crowded. But what is the alternative? Headmaster Adam Bichara Fadul Bongi does not want to turn anyone away. The school often provides newly arrived children with a sense of stability and structure for the day. Otherwise, they would simply sit on the streets.
The War Moves Closer
In recent weeks, the war has come dangerously close: the sister town of Tiné/Sudan, on the other side of the border, is one of the last places in North Darfur still held by Sudanese government forces. With armed drones and ground offensives, RSF rebels repeatedly attempt to capture the town in order to gain control of the strategically important border crossing. So far, the attacks on Tiné/Sudan have been repelled.
Then, on 19 March, a drone struck on the Chadian side, killing 17 people in Tiné/Chad who were attending a funeral. Even before that, there had been isolated RSF incursions into Chadian territory north of Tiné, leading to clashes with the Chadian military in which Chadian soldiers were also killed. In response, the Chadian government has now closed the border and deployed thousands of additional soldiers to the border region — including to Tiné. The measure is intended to strengthen security for people in Chad, but at the same time it deprives desperate civilians in Darfur of their last escape route abroad.
Work on the Construction Site
What can we as Grünhelme do in this tense security and humanitarian situation? Keep working — to maintain the school routine and ensure that as many children as possible can continue to attend classes.
With a small team of ten staff members led by our project manager Tobias Lange, we are working on the school grounds while lessons continue in the existing 17 classrooms. The foundations for the new rooms have been poured, and the walls of the first two new classrooms, built from cement hollow blocks, are already standing. The construction work is scheduled to be completed by July.
Our local staff are working incredibly hard. Alusain, one of our masons, is himself a refugee. As a Nigerian labour migrant, he was in Sudan when the civil war broke out and has now also ended up in Tiné. He is grateful to have found work again here, but he is also worried about the security situation. His friend Ali has already left us and Tiné because he felt the situation had become too dangerous. Other team members have children who attend the Kefah School, which makes them particularly motivated — even during the fasting month of Ramadan, work continued in temperatures above 30 degrees.
Further Projects Planned
The Kefah School will not be our last project in the region. In such a difficult environment, we believe it is important to remain present and show people that they are supported and not forgotten. In the coming weeks, we will look closely at how we can provide additional assistance — in education, healthcare, or support for displaced people. For this, we are grateful for any help.