Posts Tagged ‘South Sudan’
Celebrating World Food Day: Fighting Famine in South Sudan
As the tall maize grows in her fenced-in yard in South Sudan, Rebecca prepares cornmeal while her elderly mother and four youngest children play alongside. Thankful for this harvest and the food it provides her large family, she contemplates what the next few months might bring, especially in light of the major food crisis in her country.
Rebecca is a farmer, trained by World Reliefâs agricultural experts in crop diversification and resource management. Proudly pointing to her crops, she explains that because the rains had been good, she expects a better crop than last year. But this came at a hard price. In January, Rebecca had seven cows, but the fighting from the countryâs civil war closed off the markets, and the food supply was low from last seasonâs drought. Sheâd sold a cow to get bags of maize as starter seeds, but as the months of fighting went on, more was needed. As a widow and sole breadwinner for her family of 9, she had to risk the 16-hour walk once a month to trade a cow for food to feed her family. February, March, April, May, and June dragged by and before she knew it, she had only one cow left. Rebecca hoped her harvest would come quickly.
âAnd then the raindrops started,â Rebecca said. The rains that nourished the crops would guarantee a good late-summer harvest. At the same time, World Relief distributed a corn and soy bean blend to the most vulnerable in the area and will continue this monthly for the rest of the year to avert the predicted famine.
This harvest and the food supplies should feed Rebeccaâs family until January 2015. In a continued effort to fight the food shortage, World Relief will also distribute vegetable seeds (groundnuts, eggplant, sesame, tomatoes), which will provide a nutritional supplement and be an income generator during the winter months. But with ongoing fighting and what the UN describes as the âworst food crisis in the worldâ, significant challenges remain for Rebecca, her family and millions of others in South Sudan. Even though Rebecca isnât sure what the outcome will be, her faith gives her hope, âEverything is in Godâs hands,â she says.
Thatâs why World Relief stands with the people of South Sudan as we celebrate World Food Day and continue to empower many to fight famine on the frontlines.
Serving the Most Vulnerable in South Sudan: Nama’s Story
Nama is a mother of four and a member of a local savings group in South Sudan. She first attended one of the weekly meetings with some of her friends. âWe felt challenged to save our money,â she said. âAt the moment, we did not see the money to save.â
Nama first believed that a humanitarian organization would provide loans to members of the group. When she and her friends found out that members actually loaned money to one another from within their own pooled resources, several people declined joining. Nama, however, wanted to learn more.
She was sick at the time but could not afford treatment. âOne needs about SSP 100-150 to get proper treatment,â she said. That cost is the equivalent of about $30 USD.
âWe started saving our income little by little with the hope that we could give assistance to ourselves.â Said Nama. âBy this time, we had given up all the initial thinking that we would get any money from the organization.â
When borrowing began, Nama was the second to receive a loan from the group. Two others applied for loans on that day but declined and agreed to wait in order to protect Namaâs health. She was approved to receive SSP 100 for her treatment. In the same time period, she lost a relative and the group gave her SSP 25 as a form of condolences.
Nama has been repaying her loan since January. She says that the group not only gave her access to the resources she needs, but a group of new friends. âThe group members kept on visiting me when I was sick,â she said. âThey comfort me and I feel I have brothers and sisters.â
When asked about her future plans, Nama said her health will give her new opportunities. She plans on devoting time and energy to her garden and using her savings in eight months to start a kiosk so she can sell goods after farming.