Food & Water for Refugees in South Sudan

As our boat approached the village of Kurenyang, we passed two women collecting the seed pods of water lilies.  Over the day they will harvest dozens.  After drying the pods will be ground into flour to make a porridge or fried cakes.  This is the only sustainable source of food they have.

Kuernyang has become home to over 20,000 refugees.  Heaving rains in September forced people to abandon their homes and find higher ground.  Now they are packed into camps with hundreds of tarped covered homes.  It is a food crisis that is compounded by a lack of clean drinking water.

In the past, the crisis of Kuernyang would get the immediate attention of the United Nations.  But times have changed and funding cuts mean that the crisis they are facing in Kuernyang might never rise high enough to get the attention it deserves.

That is not the case with our work in South Sudan.  As soon as we learned about Kuernyang, we immediately set in motion a response.  First was an assessment.  Along with our South Sudanese team I traveled by motorboat through the swamps to reach the village.  After arriving, we met with the local authorities who told us about the crisis they are facing. A smaller team then set out in canoes to reach the island where the IDPs (internally displaced people) are living.

It was shocking to see so many people living so close.   No sanitation and not a single source of clean drinking water.  We returned to our base in Paguir, South Sudan to map out a response.

Within one week, our boats returned to Kuernyang with materials to drill three water wells.  Over the next two weeks, with daytime temperatures above 105º our team worked long hours and successfully reached water in all three locations.  The hand pumps were installed on top of flood resilient platforms which means that if floodwaters come to Kuernyang, the wells will still be reachable by canoe and provide sources of clean drinking water.

This is the work that this project supports.  We are able to respond quickly because of your private support.  It is changing lives and saving lives.

Our agriculture team will travel soon to Kuernyang to see what help we might bring.  It’s a challenge because there is so little land available even for small gardens. But, we will see what is possible and respond.   Thank you for all your support.  It’s a blessing for many thousands of people in South Sudan.

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• Learn more about our work.

Our goal with this project is to provide clean water and food through farming for refugees displaced by civil war, flooding, tribal violence and the current conflict in Sudan.  Now our own workers are refugees themselves.  And the work continues as strong as ever.

South Sudan has all the signs of a renewed civil war.  In May, Fangak County erupted in violence which included the bombing and aerial attack by helicopter gunships of Old Fangak by the South Sudanese armed forces.   This is a political upheaval pitting one ethnic tribe against another.  Since our operations are based in Old Fangak it became necessary to evacuate.

Fifty thousand people, including our own staff, fled the conflict area and moved to villages away from Old Fangak and other population centers.  We renewed operations in a nearby village called Paguir.   Our team quickly set up a compound, acquired a large tent as an office, constructed areas to store equipment and supplies, and began doing what we do best! 

The drilling team began by adding more water taps to existing water towers.  We elevated two existing water wells with platforms making them accessible during flooding. We are moving through the region repairing water wells and disinfecting those that need it.

Our agriculture team arranged for a distribution of seeds to over 200 households.  Later this month we will distribute 575 saplings of fruit trees (mango, lemon, papaya) which will be given to 315 farmers in five villages.

All this work is carried out by men and women who have lost their homes, moved their families, and who now face the same insecurity as the others in the community.  They are dedicated to our project and the people they have served all along.  They need our support so that in these uncertain times, this good work funded by this project remains constant.  Thank you for your gifts which are now as important and impactful as ever.

Links:

• Learn more about our work.