It was a moment of triumph for a man who has faced continual heartache over the past two years.
On Thursday, Dr. Jamal Eltaeb of Sudan was named the winner of the $1 million Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, which recognizes individuals who risk their lives to save others. The prize committee praised his "extraordinary courage and steadfast dedication to providing care for those trapped in conflict."
His country's civil war broke out in 2023, with a paramilitary group battling government forces. "Everywhere you look, there is pain that words cannot capture," Eltaeb told NPR in a Zoom interview.
That sentiment is echoed by the United Nations, which has described the country's civil war as the most devastating humanitarian crisis in the world. Over 150,000 have been killed and more than 12 million people displaced. Yet Eltaeb has been steadfast in serving the Sudanese people. An orthopedic surgeon, he is the director of Al Nao Hospital in Omdurman, one of the hospitals still functioning in areas surrounding the capital of Khartoum.
"It was my duty to my country and to my people," he says. "People need somebody to stay there for them."
When he spoke with NPR, Eltaeb discussed his work — and his admiration for his fellow citizens. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What is it like to treat patients during this time of war?
Providing care with almost nothing is one of the hardest things that any person can ever do. And every day we work in the impossible conditions with barely enough to keep people alive. And we run out of medicines, supplies, clean water, electricity. Even the simplest medical tools. But we learn how to improvise, to stay calm in chaos and to make something out of nothing. Sometimes, a single bandage, maybe a few tablets or even just holding patients' hands and talking to him [is] all we have to offer. But it means a lot — for the patients and for us.
What's the work environment like for you and other health workers in the midst of a conflict?
They are heroes that stood beside us. They came to the hospital knowing that their lives are on the line. The air is filled with fear. And yet they stay. They provide medical care to their patients. They stay because they know if they don't, more people will die. It is just simple like that.
What do you want people to understand about what's happening in Sudan?
The situation remains devastating but what hurts the most is the silence.
Some media [outlets] have published reports on Sudan, but it is not enough. We need more attention, maybe more coverage and more outreach. The world needs to know that this country is still bleeding. And we have to be honest, this war is not comparable to what's happening in any other conflict in the world.
Usually [in] such war and conflict, the stated goal is to destroy certain organizations and maybe infrastructure. The death of civilians is often collateral damage. But here in Sudan, we, the civilians, are the target. The purpose is to erase entire groups of people.
In our country, entire communities are being wiped out, families displaced. People are being killed simply because of who they are.
If people here could see what we see every day, if they could hear the cries that echo through the night, silence would no longer be an option. The world will have to act.
What kind of violence are you witnessing?
The level of violence and what's going on during this war is unimaginable. I never thought that such things I could face in my entire working life and it was truly traumatizing, especially [the] number of children and women that have been tortured, traumatized or left in shock is actually impossible to count.
What's going on now in El Fasher with the same brutality is not just a conflict, it is some sort of a genocide.
Are death estimates accurate?
The true toll is likely far higher. Entire towns have been emptied, families torn apart and generations destroyed.
What does winning this prize mean to you?
It's a symbol of hope. It gives people the [feeling that] you are not alone, you are not forgotten.
What keeps you going?
There are days when the suffering feels too heavy to carry, when you wonder if what you are doing will ever be enough. But then you'll see a wounded patient begin to heal. You hear a child taking a breath. And I think at that moment, you feel an internal strength to continue working.
In the heart of destruction, surrounded by loss, I see strength that can never be fully described. I see mothers who have lost everything still breaking a piece of bread to share with a stranger. I see children smiling through hunger and pain, creating light in places where there is none. I see doctors, nurses, my colleagues, my friends and volunteers working through exhaustion and fear [with] only their heart and only their courage.
[The Sudanese people] have taught us that hope is not something we wait for. It is something we build with our hands. Even in the darkest time. Every act of care, every heartbeat that continues, is an act of defiance. It is a way of saying to the world: We are still here and our lives matter and the lives of [the] Sudanese matter. And as long as Sudan is still breathing, as long as one child, one mother, I keep serving because this is not just about survival. It is about dignity. It's about humanity. And it is about hope that refuses to die.
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