A preschool teacher and her 18-month-old daughter are starting a long journey home to Ashland, Massachusetts, after more than a week trapped in civil-war-torn Sudan.
Trillian Clifford and her daughter, Alma, moved to Sudan less than a year ago after Clifford got a job teaching preschool there. Things were going well until recently.
"She has spent the last 10 days hiding in her apartment," Rebecca Winter, Clifford's sister-in-law, said Tuesday. "Running out of food, running out of water, hiding under a coffee table with mattresses around her, when there are airstrikes, hearing machine guns outside, it has been an absolute worst nightmare."
Winter and other family members have struggled to stay in touch with Clifford, as internet and phone service has been unreliable.
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"It has been impossible," Winter said. "We felt in the beginning there was absolutely nothing we could do."
Tuesday brought good news, though, as Winter learned Clifford and Alma were able to travel to the Sudan border with members of Clifford's school.
"We want to express extreme gratitude to Trillian's school for organizing this evacuation, and for the help that [Sen.] Elizabeth Warren and [Gov.] Maura Healey's offices have provided along with the local embassies," Winter said.
More on the conflict in Sudan
Clifford's family says it is not detailing how Clifford and Alma will get home for security reasons, and it should take a few days for them to get back to Boston.
"In so many ways, I am feeling incredibly relieved, incredibly grateful," Winter said. "I am still nervous because Trillian has a long way to travel, so until she is back home and I can touch her, and know this is real, I don't know if I am going to quite believe it, but we are so thrilled."
"I just want to see Alma," she added. "I feel like she is my baby, too. I want to see my niece I want to see my sister-in-law, I miss her."
