Ashland woman who escaped Sudan violence details long journey back to the U.S.

ASHLAND, Mass. — An Ashland woman is detailing her long Odyssey from war-torn Sudan back to the United States with her young daughter after being safely evacuated last week.

Trillian Clifford worked as a teacher at an international school in Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum. When violence broke out after a political crisis, Clifford and her 18-month-old daughter had to shelter in place for over a week.

This, they claim, was only the start of their 1,350-mile journey.

Clifford’s sister-in-law, Rebecca Winter, shared with Boston 25 News a statement detailing Clifford’s escape to Cairo and eventually, back to the United States.

“It took over 100 hours of travel,” Winter said. “The first step was getting to the two-bus convoy where she was met by several other foreign nationals and their families from her school. Trillian and Alma drove to the bus with another colleague and her two-year-old. It was surreal and terrifying driving out in the open after over a week of sheltering in place. Thankfully, that part of the journey was uneventful.”

However, Winter says the next leg of the journey was a different story.

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Ashland mother, young daughter safely home from war-torn Sudan, family says Trillian Clifford, a native of Ashland, and her young daughter, Alma, have returned home safely from war-torn Sudan, her family said. Clifford worked as a teacher at an international school in Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum. (Rebecca Winter)

She says the bus ride took hours just to get out of Khartoum, with the convoy being stopped and rerouted several different times. After finally leaving the city, Clifford and her co-workers, along with their children, began the long drive through the desert to Egypt.

The drive through the desert presented its own challenges, a family spokesperson claims.

“A co-worker of Trillian’s reported some of the stops were by armed guards, some of whom entered the bus with AK-47s demanding bribes or verifying there were only citizens on board,” Winter said. “At one point, the bus encountered fighting between both armies and the bus driver yelled for everyone to close the window shades, hide on the ground and be silent. [Clifford’s daughter] was thankfully asleep when this occurred, but other families struggled to calm their terrified children.”

Winter says the convoy eventually reached Wadi Halfa, a city in northern Sudan near Lake Nubia, and thus started the process of trying to enter Egypt. She describes the border of the country being “chaos” as thousands of refugees from Sudan tried to enter.

Clifford and her daughter were among the first group to enter border processing, although her sister-in-law says others in her convoy weren’t as lucky. The small Ashland family was nevertheless stuck at the border for most of the day and had to rely on “safe houses” provided by private Sudanese citizens to sleep at night.

“Beds were scarce, but they prioritized children getting a bed when possible,” Winter said.

The next stop was Abu Simbel, which is a village situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, which Winter says is where Clifford and her daughter needed to catch a ferry.

“They were hopeful they would reach the pier in time, but arrived right after the last ferry departed,” Winter said. “They wanted to sleep on the bus by the ferry, but were told they weren’t allowed to stay there.”

She says her convoy spent the night in shacks with most of them sleeping on the ground. After catching a ferry in the morning, Winter says the group continued on to Aswan, where they were able to purchase SIM cards for their phones so they could contact their families back home.

“This is when I was finally able to get back in contact with Trillian after losing touch when she crossed out of Sudan,” the sister-in-law said.

From Aswan, the family spokesperson said Clifford and her daughter took a bus to Cairo and eventually, landed in Boston on Sunday night.

“Trillian is incredibly grateful to her school in Khartoum for arranging and funding her evacuation to Cairo,” Winter said. “She is working to help other friends who are still in Sudan or stuck at the border. Our hearts are breaking for the Sudanese people, along with all affected by this conflict.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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