Cedar Rapids man out of Sudan

Mohamed Ahmed of Cedar Rapids is out of Sudan after completing a bus trip from his parents’ home near Khartoum to the Egyptian border.

Ahmed’s wife, Jacy Bunnell Ahmed of Cedar Rapids, confirmed her husband was safe in a Facebook post Tuesday. Egypt, she said, has given him a visitor’s visa, and he now plans to get to Cairo and fly home.

The daylong bus trip to the Egyptian border, which typically costs $250, now costs $3,000, as the demand to get out of the war-torn country has skyrocketed, Ahmed said.

Ahmed said her husband told her one woman died on the bus trip to Egypt, as people flee the northeast African country.

Ahmed, a former teacher in the Cedar Rapids school district, has become the “voice” of U.S. residents trying to get loved ones out of Sudan, being interviewed by national news and cable news networks and National Public Radio.

She also reported that Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. secretary of transportation, called her Tuesday to inquire as to her husband’s status.

Mohamed Ahmed, 38, was in Sudan for his father’s funeral. He was to fly home last week, but fighting between military factions damaged and closed the Khartoum airport before he could leave.

A GoFundMe for “Help Mo Get Home” has raised more than $8,000 as of Wednesday.

Ahmed immigrated to the U.S. 13 years ago to attend Kirkwood Community College and became a U.S. citizen in 2016. He and his wife operate a commercial cleaning business in Cedar Rapids.