Over two million people in South Sudan have fled their homes because of conflict. Many, like Nyathon Pur, have come to Kolapach, a small village in Jonglei State in the northern part of the country. Most fled with little more than the clothes they were wearing. Everyone here is hungry.
“I came last year when the fighting broke out in Malakal. We were displaced,” Nyathon explains. “We are in the bush, staying under this tree, we don’t have a house. We don’t have anything.”
Nyathon came to Kolapach with her children and grandchildren, and, like thousands of others, they are now dependent on food aid. This year the land in Kolapach won’t grow enough to feed everybody. The next harvest, however much it brings, is still months away. Food supplies are almost exhausted. To try to prevent a ‘hunger gap’ the ICRC has begun food distributions to 24,000 people.
“We found out that the harvest is poor this season,” explains ICRC delegate Meseret Mengistu. “As a result we predict the hunger gap to come earlier and there will be a shortage of food for the displaced people as well as the host community. // “There is no health facility, no safe water for drinking, these are the major challenges for the community.”
But in a region as vast, and sometimes insecure, as this, the food from the ICRC has to be airdropped. It is a difficult and often inefficient way to deliver supplies: aid agencies sometimes call airdrops the measure of last resort. In Kolapach, they are a lifesaver.
Once the food has landed it has to be collected and carried to those who need it. Nyathon, with four daughters and five grandchildren, cooks very carefully. She has to make sure the food lasts as long as possible, and that everyone gets a mouthful.
“My children are still really hungry,” she says, once the day’s one meal is over, “but I am just protecting them. If I cook all the food at once, tomorrow they will have nothing to eat.”
But Nyathon is very resilient: to supplement the family’s diet, she tries to work as well, collecting wood, and selling it in the local market. She knows better than anyone the dangers of food shortages.
“When you don’t have food, you go to the bush and cut the trees, carry them on your head, you will be tired, it’s painful,” she explains.// “If you don’t do that your children can die from hunger.”
Food distribution like this will never be a longterm solution. The real aim is to save lives now, so that, when the time comes, these families can return home, strong, healthy, and ready to start their lives again.
“ICRC has a vision for this community,” explains Meseret Mengistu. “For them to settle and for the displaced to return back to their homes and start a sustainable livelihood in the future.”
And that, of course, is a goal shared by everyone, including Nyathon and her family. The food is welcome in Kolapach, but returning home is their chief wish.
“We will stay here for a short time,” she says. “When we’ll see that our home is ok and that things are fine, we’ll go back.”
No one knows how long the insecurity in South Sudan will last, or when things at home will be ‘fine’ again. But at least, in Kolapach, those displaced by conflict are receiving food. That helps them to stay strong, and to keep their plans and hopes for return alive.
For further information, please contact:
Aurélie Lachant, ICRC Geneva: +41 22 730 2271 / +41 79 217 3217
Yamila Castro, ICRC Juba: +211 0923 158 196 / + 211 912 360 038
Jason Straziuso, ICRC Nairobi: +254 733 622 026
SHOTLIST
Location: Kolapach, Jonglei State South Sudan
Length: 5:40
Format: HD H264 mov
Production: Nicola Fell, Yamila Castro
Camera: Joseph Ndungu
ICRC ref: AV389N
Date: December 2015