El-Azaza El-Rawaj is one of the relatively old villages in Sudan; founded in 1889. It is located in Suki locality in the State of Sennar. The available services in the village are two primary schools, a health clinic, and a water well in the northern neighborhood.

Over the times a group of small villages populated around El-Azaza El-Rawaj and ultimately became dependent on its resources and essential services.

WATER & SANITATION - The well, from the 1970s, provides salty non-potable water in storage opened tanks. Villagers fetch drinking water directly by the Nile in a three-hour daily trek. Sanitation and sewage networks are not available in the area. Latrines in the homes pose high health risks in the rainy seasons when the Nile level goes high; the sewage water mix with the river water making it a rich environment for disease outbreaks.

HEALTHCARE - The health unit is a one-room building constructed in the 1970s. The building is dilapidated and in deplorable condition, run by a medical assistant. There is not a certified doctor. At most, patients compulsorily travel 45 kilometers away from the village seeking medication. Not to mention the cases that require urgent care.

EDUCATION - There are two primary schools, one for boys and one for girls. The active number of students is 755 children. However, more than 250 children don't find places at schools, resulting in a significant school dropout, with the number accumulating every year. Classrooms are built out of red bricks and are subject to fall due to environmental factors: corrosion and rainwater. Children sit on the dirt floor to attend classes; sometimes in the open.

High school is 8 kilometers away from the village. Students have to make a 16km-trek (5miles) on foot every day.

Preschool is not available in the village.

ENVIRONMENT - The village has a warm semi-arid climate; dry in the summer and winter seasons and rainy in the fall season. The majority of the houses are built from mud, smeared with a mixture of animal manure and some clay soil to protect them from rain. The outer coating must be restored every season to ensure the sustainability of the buildings over time.

LIVELIHOOD - El-Azaza El-Rawaj has fertile land. In the early times, 5000 acres were used to produce cotton, sunflower, and maize, to name a few. Today people are reliant on traditional grazing and livestock breeding that barely covers their sufficiency. Heads of households migrate to bigger cities seeking better opportunities, leaving behind their families in instability, where they end up having little chance of fortune.

It is not easy to impose a change on a community, even if it changes their lives for the better. Every culture requires keys and ways to explore and comprehend; we are lucky we have a team well embedded in the community. We chose El-Azaza El-Rawaj village as our first project site because it meets our organization's mission requirements. On our first visit, the village mayors were very cooperative. They provided us with information and allowed us to inspect the area and conduct interviews with some residents. Everyone was very welcoming to our team and got pragmatically optimistic about making a difference, and is ready to work with us towards progress.