South Sudan

For some of the team members, the situation is very challenging. Sitima is full of emotions. More than 30 years ago she had to flee for her life along the same roads she is now travelling on.

“Coming to Ezo brings back childhood memories: how we left our home village fleeing towards the Central African Republic. I really reflect on how the situation was, on the challenges we met along the way, on the long distances we walked, sometimes without food, on sleeping outside under the trees,” she says.

Outside the nearby church a group of women are collecting their belongings. Next to them, children are playing joyfully. They have slept in the church overnight. Now the locals are entering the church for morning mass.

“This makes me remember how my situation was 30 years ago,” Sitima continues.

“I walked the same road when I was a child, and today I am here again to support the families who are displaced from Tambura. It is such an old but strong memory of my childhood, and it still reminds me of how we struggled to move, how we cried. I never imagined I would be back on this road today.”

“Never lose hope”

But she is happy to be back.

“I feel satisfied when the people we support recover from an emergency,” she says.

“Getting relief from the traumatic events they have experienced and being able to find the necessities of life. I get pleasure when displaced children return to learning without barriers and are given the quality of education they deserve.”

“I have been to school through tough times, and I always like encouraging displaced children by telling them about my own experience and advising them to persist and go on with their education. It is always important to hope, even in the most difficult situation. Hope for the future, hope for better things is very important.”

Raymond is the shelter expert in the team, but he must deal with other needs as well.

“Very often we are the first on the ground to meet the humanitarian needs. The most important priorities are food and shelter, but many displaced people suffer from trauma due to all the bad things that have happened to them. I meet with newly arrived families, and you can see the stress on their faces. They are traumatised,” he says.

“We try to be strong and not show too many emotions because it can make people feel like there is no hope of things getting better,” Raymond continues.

“I chose to be a humanitarian worker because I have been in a situation like they are in now. I have been displaced and a refugee for quite some time. At the end you lose hope, but it was the humanitarian workers who gave us hope again.

“It is important to be a humanitarian worker. I feel good. Me and my team are doing a lot of work and changing people’s lives.”

“We can see their smiles and faces changing”

For Raymond the work has become a passion for him. “I love to just give back and touch people’s lives, see the smiles on their faces and bring about change,” he says.

We talk to Raymond as he is about to leave the site, where he has finished distributing essential supplies such as tarpaulins, blankets, mosquito nets, clothes, solar lamps, cooking equipment, water buckets, soap, and other hygiene items.

“It was difficult, but we are happy that we came to Ezo, because after a week of interacting there was a growing feeling of hope. Being with the displaced for so many days, we can see their smiles and faces changing, and the children playing. We feel we have accomplished something as an emergency response team,” he says.