Emergency Aid Worldwide

Susan, 49, stands behind her market 
stall at Rhino Camp in Uganda, 
proudly displaying the food she sells. 
After being forced to flee neighboring 
South Sudan, the mother of eight children 
has managed to build a new life for herself.

Escape from South Sudan
Since 2013, violent unrest, political 
instability, and climate-related changes 
have led to massive displacement in South 
Sudan. Around two million people are 
currently displaced within their own country. 
In addition, nearly 2.3 million people have 
left South Sudan – around half of whom have 
fled to Uganda. In 2016, Susan and her 
children also set out for the neighboring 
country.

Saving Together
The turning point came a few years later 
when Susan joined a community there which 
saves money together. Each member pays a 
monthly contribution into a shared fund. And 
if someone needs a loan, it is paid out from 
the community fund. Of course, the loan must 
be repaid.

Staff from the alliance organization of 
Aktion Deutschland Hilft, Malteser 
International,  who establish these savings 
groups train the members to start their own 
businesses with the necessary background 
knowledge. The three-day intensive training 
offered focuses on business management, sales, 
accounting, and profit calculation. These are the 
basic tools that finally paved the way for Susan 
to regain her independence after her escape and 
the subsequent years of uncertainty.

Her own market stall
After the training and with a loan in her pocket, 
Susan opened her own stall, where she now 
successfully sells vegetables and fish every day. 
"Before the training, I had no business knowledge. 
Now I know how to keep accounts and manage profits, 
and I can pay my children's school fees," she says 
proudly.

But Susan's dreams aren't limited to just making 
ends meet: she wants to expand her business further. 
With the prospect of returning to South Sudan 
anytime soon slim, she's focused on building a 
stable future for her family in Uganda.

Help That Lasts
Susan is one of over 100 refugees who have 
participated in one of our alliance organization's 
training programs since 2022. At a time when global 
funding for refugee support is declining, initiatives 
like this are important. They offer people the 
opportunity to decide for themselves what they want 
and give them the tools to bring about lasting change.

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Worrying, even dramatic, conditions prevail 
in the refugee camps in Burundi, East Africa. 
The aid organization action medeor is currently 
drawing attention to this. In the neighboring 
Democratic Republic of Congo, fierce fighting is 
taking place between militarily organized rebel 
groups – including the Alliance Fleuve Congo 
(AFC), under whose umbrella the largest group, 
M23, supported by Rwanda, operates – and the 
Congolese army.

People flee violence in the DRC
Tens of thousands of people have fled across the 
border into Burundi in recent weeks to escape the 
escalating violence. "They live there in makeshift 
camps or simply scattered on the streets," reports 
Emmanuel, who is currently on site for the partner 
organization of Aktion Deutschland Hilft, action 
medeor, and has visited several refugee camps in the 
Burundian-Congolese border region.

He has been coordinating humanitarian aid projects 
in the region for many years. But the current 
conditions are also causing him great concern. "Among 
the refugees are many women with their children. Many 
have fled the combat zones in the Democratic Republic 
of Congo, often walking several hundred kilometers. 
Some pregnant women have also fled, some giving birth 
on the way. I can hardly imagine the hardships they 
endured to make it to Burundi," Emmanuel describes.

17 Toilets for 6,000 People
But the next challenge awaits the people in the refugee 
camps, as the conditions Emmanuel has seen there 
are alarming. "There are currently 48,000 refugees 
living around the city, and the number is constantly 
increasing," Emmanuel reports. "The local structures 
here are unprepared for the sudden influx of people and 
are completely overwhelmed. In the hastily set up 
makeshift camps, there is insufficient access to water, 
hardly any sanitation facilities, and no medical care," 
he says.

"I was in a refugee camp where there were only 17 toilets 
for 6,000 people. Cholera is spreading; children are dying 
from malnutrition, malaria, and infections. Many people are 
sleeping unprotected on the streets or crowded into tents, 
with up to 20 people per six square meters."

Medical aid for refugees launched
Our alliance organization action medeor has already begun 
initiating initial relief measures. "We will now ensure that 
medical care improves. A mobile clinic has already begun 
providing care to the people. But we have realized that we 
need to increase the available medications, as they are not 
enough to treat everyone," Emmanuel explains the initial steps 
and challenges. "In the refugee camps, we will now not only 
provide medical care, but also distribute hygiene kits and 
mosquito nets, and provide psychological support to the 
traumatized people," he announces.

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