"Abu Ushar" a Abu `Ushar Travel Page by uglyscot

This large village/ small town lies on the Blue Nile in the Gezira area of Sudan.
Its history includes the railway, irrigation , sheikhs, religious schools and more recently the Chinese run hospital.
It is named after the ushar plant [Sodom's Apple, or Dead Sea Apple] which used to grow in profusion in the area. The fruit is empty and has fine fibres inside. The stalks and leaves produce a poisonous latex.
Most of the original village lies between the Wad Medani road and the Blue Nile, but the hospital and irrigation department are further to the west, beyond the main highway.

Beside the main road is the tomb of one of the Chinese who died while working in Abu Ushar. It is in completely different style, and the locals call it the grave of the Chinese fekki .

Abu Ushar is built on uneven ground on dunes, but probably because houses would be demolished and new ones erected in their place, the terrain has become even more uneven.
Traditionally houses were of mud brick,[note the bricks laid out to dry in the photo], and the roofs had a wooden ceiling and a concrete coating. Roads are not paved and there is no lighting except in the houses, though electricity has not been there very long.
It does have a number of schools and colleges, and a market..

To the south of the village is a run off canal from the main irrigation It flows through a dry khor..[see Things to Do] The water rushes down to enter the Blue Nile.
On the opposite bank of the Blue Nile is the town of Al Hilaliya, which can be reached by ferry boat.

The people of Abu Ushar are very hospitable and generous. They have very close family ties, and the different families are frequently linked by marriage.
When I first went to Abu Ushar in 1968 , foreigners were a rarity, so whenever we walked or drove through the village, children would shout 'The Egyptian Woman has come'. Perhaps they had seen Egyptian men or recognised a light skin from TV soaps. Later when Chinese doctors came to work in the hospital, my appearance changed my status. On arrival the chant would then be 'The Chinese woman has come'.
When I went to weddings, children would jostle to get near me for a look, though this is no longer as frequent; but babes in arms and toddlers still cling to their mothers for safety, or bawl their heads off when I approach.