REBECCA is just six-years-old and chronically ill but she left her village with her mother at 3am and has walked all day to reach Mercy Corps' cash distribution centre. From here they walk yet further to reach the market and when they reach home she and her family will finally be able to eat. 
She was just a tiny baby when South Sudan gained independence in 2011 as the part of an agreement that was supposed to finally bring Africa’s longest-running civil war to a halt. But two years later, in December 2013, the struggle for political power in the south erupted into violence with the president Salva Kiir, accusing his deputy Riek Machar of attempting a coup. 
The world’s newest nation found itself in the grip of a massive humanitarian crisis that has seen 3.7 million people forced to flee their homes – six of 10 South Sudanese refugees are children. Tens of thousands have been killed.
As is so often the case in war and conflict, it is the most vulnerable who suffer most, including many women and girls who are subject to gender-based violence including rape and assault. With so many men engaged in violence or forced to leave their families behind to find employment, it falls to the women to ensure their family’s survival.
The daily threats are all around even simple chores such as collecting firewood or food for their families are fraught with danger. But they are resilient. With the help of Mercy Corps – who have set up feeding programmes, schools and offer emergency grants – they are finding ways to rebuild a future in one of the most dangerous countries in the world. 


Thulnaath Raan Cluol
When Thulnaath Raan Cluol’s village was burnt down in 2015, she and the rest of her community rebuilt it, but as the conflict rages on the fear that it will happen again is ever present. For now, the 36-year-old’s focus is on making sure she, her children and mother have enough to eat and drink.
It takes two hours from their village to reach the boreholes to fetch water and a lack of rainfall means even those cannot be relied on. In the village the children have been unable to attend school – their families cannot afford the fees and anyway, the hunger makes it too hard to concentrate.
“As a mother, we are suffering a lot because of the famine in the area,” she says. “When the child is crying and you have no food to give to the child, it hurts you as a mother.” She no longer has a cow that can provide milk or money to fish. 
“Before the conflict, people are happy, healthy and they are able to farm,” she adds. “The food they get from farming, they [could] sell to the market and they get money. But when the war is started, people are not healthy – they are weak because they are hungry and not able to work.”
For now she relies on the emergency support from Mercy Corp’s cash distribution centre. It is a long walk but it means her children can eat twice a day and she can pay the school fees that help her children continue their education. At the market she will still have to make hard choices – she cannot afford everything she needs. But they have enough to survive and for now that is something.


Angelina Nyadechni Kai
Angelina Nyadechni Kai hasn’t seen her husband since fighting broke out in their hometown – Mayendit – three years ago. Unable to find the basics she and her children needed to survive and slowly starving, finally fled.
For five days she walked through deep water, pulling her children and mother to safety on plastic sheeting that floated on the water. When they arrived at Nyoat Island the children were sick, and the baby had diarrhoea from having been in the water for so long. The nearest clinic is an hour’s canoe ride away.
Now life is tough but bearable. She says: “I feel safe here, and I can get water lilies for my kids [to eat]."
Before the conflict Angelina farmed her own land, planting maize and sorghum [a type of millet] to provide her family with enough food. Here that is not possible and the effects of trauma are long lasting. “I still have those dreams at night – gunshots, people were killed when we were fleeing,” she says. 
Now they are in Nyoat Island her children will take a canoe for two hours at 4am to reach a school supported by Mercy Corps. Next she hopes to find work so that she can provide for her kids. She dreams of a small vegetable garden so she can grow and sell to support her family. It’s not much to ask.


Nyakim Gatwak Gatbbuok
Nyakim Gatwak Gatbbuok, a 48-year-old widow supporting a family of nine has been she has been forced to rely on food assistance and fishing since she fled her farm three years ago. But now an emergency cash support from Mercy Corps will make a huge difference. “I am feeling fine because I found out that I will receive cash for three more months which is important for my family,” she says.
At the market she brought firewood and fish for dinner that evening. Her son, who will now be able to return to school, will also have shoes and school exercise books. It offers a chance at a fresh start.

The Herald:

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