Six months ago, MAF joined Khayamandi Foundation to support a struggling family at Uganda’s Rhino refugee settlement. The children were then cared for by their eldest sister, 16-year-old Nyabuom Puok.
The children had been abandoned in a house with a leaking roof. They slept on a dusty floor and went hungry for days. The community saw the family’s plight and alerted staff from the Khayamandi Foundation.
The children appeared pale and unhappy, suffering from conditions including malnutrition and severe ear infection. Attending school was not a part of their daily life.
MAF staff joined Khayamandi Foundation to provide some food, clothes, shoes and bedding to Nyabuom’s family and to other refugee families at the Rhino camp. There was now some relief for the children who had lived on their own for over a year.
But when the children’s lives improved, and Khayamandi took them back to school, word reached their step-mother, 23-year-old Nyajal Matik, who had relocated back to South Sudan.
The tears rolling down Nyajal’s face are a clear testament that she has faced big challenges early in life. At the age of just 15 years, Nyajal was forcefully married off by her father.
In recent years, with her husband absent in South Sudan, she cared for her three stepchildren and four biological children, including a set of twins.
“I used to collect firewood to keep the family going, but there was no more firewood to pick. I was struggling to feed the children,” she said.
For an entire year, Nyajal handed the family responsibility of four of the children to her 16-year-old stepdaughter, Nyabuom.
“I’m pleased with Nyabuom for keeping the family and taking care of the children. I pray that God will bless her for that,” said Nyajal.
During this interview, Nyajal and all the children broke down in tears as they remembered the tough year it had been, but these were also the tears of relief as the family has been reunited and has been supported by the Khayamandi Foundation and MAF.
“I’m grateful that mother is back here,” Nyabuom said.
16-year-old Nyabuom Puok may enjoy her childhood again, as her stepmother assumes her family's responsibility with support from MAF partner Khayamandi Foundation.
With the presence of Nyajal, Nyabuom can now focus on her academics and does not have to worry about fending for the family single-handedly.
While this family’s immediate needs are being met, other families across refugee settlements in Uganda are not so fortunate. At 12 years of age, Nyakim Mut heads a large family of nine children younger than her.
The crisis is the same: parents returned to South Sudan when food rations and funding cuts from the UNHCR struck.
As MAF continues to support non-government organisations with their flights to remote refugee settlements, our prayer remains that as many parents as possible are reunited with their children.
STORY & PHOTOS / DAMALIE HIRWA