Archive for January, 2012

Giir: A Returnee Home

January 26, 2012

South Sudan is a nation with 70,000 internally displaced returnees.  These people blur the line between refugee and survivor as they return to a land ravaged by civil war.  The joy in returning is that they have a nation to call home.  The challenge is that they must rebuild from the ground up.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR is tasked with the first step in relocating the returnees.  Camps are established to provide temporary settlement; however the need is often far greater than resources can provide.  While these camps fill an urgent demand, the lack of water and sanitation is a potential breeding ground for illness and aggression.

Many families travel for weeks carrying their belongings across difficult terrain, only to settle in a field amongst others awaiting placement.  The Obakki Foundation has been an active partner in the relocation process – drilling clean water wells to accelerate the resettlement of these displaced people.

Today is a day of celebration as the Obakki Foundation has drilled water at the location of a new home – the village is called Giir and it’s first inhabitants are 300 families eager to take root.

Our team takes a snap shots amongst the people and belongings waiting to be transported to their new location.

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A Note from Treana: Anticipated Return

January 24, 2012

I remember this flight all too well.  5 passengers, beaten up old Cessna, flying at a bumpy 22,000 feet over the Kenyan grassland on my way to Rumbek. It was just a short year ago when I made this trek, and I remember now that I promised myself to find another mode of transportation! However, every passing moment means I am one minute closer to touching down on that dirt airstrip and so, for now, my excitement trumps my fear.

Thoughts of this trip have been circling though my head for months now and even though I am excited to set foot back on South Sudan soil,  I have no idea what to expect.  I know that I will laugh and dance with villagers in celebration of their new water wells.  I know I will see many people in need and that I will hold the hand of someone who hasn’t eaten in 3 days.  I know my heart will beat faster as I pass a truck carrying 50 or more SPLA soldiers.  And I know that I will go home inspired and even more committed.  Everything else is unexpected.

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