Displaced by floods and conflict, mothers in South Sudan refuse to be defeated

Ongoing conflict since 2013 has killed hundreds of people, while also resulting in economic decline, increased hunger, and higher risk of disease. There are nearly 2.23 million South Sudanese refugees, while 1.9 million South Sudanese people are internally displaced. 

Yet at the same time, conflict in Sudan continues across the border. Since April 2023, more than one million people have arrived in South Sudan seeking safety – both Sudanese refugees and South Sudanese people who are now returning after failing to find safety in Sudan. 

On top of that, the climate crisis in South Sudan is compounding the levels of displacement. Last year, flooding displaced over 76,000 people and destroyed crops and livestock, putting thousands more at risk of hunger and malnutrition. 

With such daunting statistics, in can sometimes be hard to remember that behind each number is a person with their own hopes, fears, and goals for their future. Here, two mothers in South Sudan share their stories. 

Angelina has five children, two of whom – daughters Nyachar and Chaudiel - have recently been affected by malnutrition.

“The boys were born before the flooding crisis when we still had our cattle and goats. They grew up eating very well, and they have become strong. The unlucky ones are my small girls because they were born when the country was in a bad situation, and that is why they got malnourished,” Angelina explains.

In the past, Angelina and her family had enough to take care of themselves, but this changed when the floods arrived.

“Before, life was so much better than today. This is because we had our cattle, our goats, and we could depend on them for milk and also other things. And we also had enough fertile land that we would plant all the good vegetables. Even the water lily, we did not know of it before, but now this flooding crisis has destroyed everything.”

Today, Angelina and her family have been forced to rely on eating water lilies and their roots. This diet has not only contributed to her daughters' malnutrition but also led to other health issues within her family.

“We have been depending on eating water lilies and the roots of water lilies. The root of it is so dark. We don’t even like how it looks. Once you eat, you immediately feel sick, and you start to have diarrhoea. These are the only things that we are eating, which make us sick. And we are drinking water from the river as well. That is how our life is.”

Despite the ongoing challenge of securing adequate food, Angelina is grateful for the noticeable improvements in her children's health and energy levels since they began to receive treatment for malnutrition.

“Before this, they were suffering. They could not even talk, walk, or even wake up. They were just sleeping the entire time,” she describes.

The nutrition centre has been invaluable to Angelina’s community, offering essential training and resources that have significantly improved their health and well-being. Through mother-to-mother sessions and practical guidance on hygiene and malnutrition monitoring, they have gained vital skills that have reduced illness and empowered them to better care for their families.

“We have learned a lot from the mother-to-mother sessions, which have helped us a lot,” she says. “Concern distributed the MUAC tapes in our community and showed us how to use them, and now we are using them in our homes. So now we don’t just come to the clinic anyhow. We measure our children at home, and then, depending on the status, that is when we bring them into the clinic.” 

A MUAC tape, which stands for Mid-Upper Arm Circumference, is a simple measuring tape that can identify malnutrition and wasting in children.

“Before, we were having a lot of sickness issues in the community, but after those trainings, cases have reduced, and we appreciate Concern for that. They are really helping us in our daily life, and we appreciate that they are here with us in our community.”

Today Sahra is sheltering at the Wedwiel refugee settlement in South Sudan, but it’s not the first time she’s been displaced. Her adult life has been marked by moving to new areas in search of safety. 

Her journey began all the way back in 2011, when she was teaching as an Arabic teacher in South Kordofan, Sudan. Violent clashes and bombing forced her and her husband to move to Khartoum, 12 hours away. They stayed there for five years, working and raising their son, before they separated and Sahra moved again, settling into life as a teacher with two children to raise.

When conflict emerged in 2023, Sahra didn’t think at first that it would last.

“I didn’t expect to be affected at all. At this time, I was in school teaching, and that is when we heard that there was conflict going on in some parts of Sudan. But because I was far from the places where the conflict was, I did not think that the conflict would ever get to us,” she shares. “I was continuing to teach at school, but after 3–4 weeks, the conflict started to come close to where we were.”

During this time Sahra was attacked by a man in her home. She decided to return to her family home, enduring random gunfire along the way. She stayed for a year, selling tea in the local market.

“There were some people asking me, ‘You are a teacher. Why are you working as a teamaker?’ They were seeing it as something shameful for a teacher to do. But the work was good, and I was able to make some money that would cater to my daily needs as well as to support my children,” she explains.

But this time when bombing and clashes neared the village, Sahra did not hesitate to leave.

“The same day that we decided to move from Al Fula, bombs were being dropped in our area,” she recalls. “When I heard the airplane sounds, I tried to grab my children to bring them inside the house. It was so hard to hide from a plane. All we could do was run. I was holding my daughter on one side and my son on the other side as we ran.” 

“Unfortunately, one bomb was dropped near our house—like 100 meters from the house—and people who were there all died. My son was also hit by the debris, which was flying around, and he hurt his arm in the process.”

After applying treatment to his wound, they walked on foot for two hours to another village. It was overcrowded and there wasn’t enough water or food. The family embarked on another walk, this time lasting three days, before arriving in a placed called Al Odaya. 

“I decided to leave Al Odaya because the situation there made us feel that it was insecure. In addition to that, my two children didn’t have any education there; they had nothing to do,” she says. 

She travelled in a  large lorry and eventually crossed the border, arriving in South Sudan with hopes for a better future for her children.

“What I'm hoping is that I can hopefully get a teaching job because I enjoy teaching Arabic. I just have a passion for it, and this is why I always push myself to teach whenever I can,” she says. “I also hope my children can also start attending classes and going back to school. I hope that we can achieve that while we are here.”

Last year, we reached over 550,000 people in South Sudan, providing shelter, clean water and food along with programmes that support health and nutrition and livelihoods. Sixty percent of the people we reached were women.

You can contribute to this work by supporting our Displaced But Not Defeated appeal. Every day, families displaced by conflict face impossible challenges — but they are not giving up. From walking miles to get their children lifesaving treatment, to learning new skills so they can earn an income, they are taking courageous steps to rebuild their lives with dignity and determination.