Now There Is Peace

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Asunta Awok vividly recalls fleeing war-torn Southern Sudan when she was only 20 years old. She ran for three days straight and didnâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;t sleep. For the past 25 years, she has lived in Khartoum in the north. In that time, she married, had four children, and later buried her husband. Now 45, she has returned home with her children, eager to build a new life in what is poised to become the worldâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s newest country. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;I returned because I was born here, even my grandparents were born here,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; says Asunta. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;I only left because of the war, and now there is peace.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; Hundreds of thousands of people like Asunta have made the dangerous journey back to Southern Sudan, with great hopes for a better life. Returnees have left jobs, homes, and whole lives behind. Many sold their possessions to afford the trip back; some had their possessions stolen along the way. Asunta and her children endured a long and traumatic bus ride from Khartoum to arrive in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state. During the journey, armed militia stopped their bus and killed a woman for refusing to surrender her child to them. Decades of war have devastated this region. The development of basic water, sanitation, and health services has suffered as a result, especially in the rural areas where most returnees are settling. Relief agencies like Medair are working closely with the government of Southern Sudan to facilitate the safe settlement of returnees.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;Many more people will be coming from Khartoum,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; says Asunta. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;We were told there would be water and schools and hospitals for us here. But there is nothing.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; Stretched to the LimitAsuntaâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s bus dropped her off in Apata settlement, where she became one of 11,000 people living in makeshift camps. Even before this most recent influx of returnees, these border regions struggled to meet the needs of a growing population. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing conflict in the Darfur region have been establishing settlements in this region for years, with large influxes in the past few months. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;Large numbers are arriving with nowhere to arrive to,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; says Jesse Pleger, Medair WASH advisor. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;So they are left in limbo, camping out under trees or by water points, with huge numbers relying on scant water sources and medical services.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157;Life in the settlements is difficult. Access to water is limited and sanitary conditions are poor due to overcrowding and a lack of latrines. Cholera is endemic to the area and these conditions provide an ideal environment for disease outbreaks.A Water Yard for Apata SettlementIndeed, access to water has emerged as the most urgent priority. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;All assessments show that the issue of water is the biggest by far,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; says Tim Liptrot, WASH Technician.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;Itâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s easy to think that one kilometre isnâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;t too far to walk to a borehole, but people have to walk back carrying heavy jerry cans of water,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; says Tim. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;When you think that most families need between five and 10 jerry cans a day, that means people spend most of their time either travelling to and from the water point, or queuing there.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; As a result, Medairâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s WASH emergency response team (ERT) is now working in seven settlements throughout Aweil North, the area of the state receiving the most returnees. The team is repairing and increasing the yield on boreholes, establishing emergency latrines, and training health and hygiene promoters in the community. The ERT will then move on to Aweil West to rehabilitate 27 additional boreholes. The ERTâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s work is made possible through support of private donors and the European Commissionâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s Humanitarian Aid department.In Apata, Medair identified that there should be at least 16 boreholes to ensure that families could collect enough water. But there were only three. People were waiting for two to three hours at a time just to fill one jerry can.As an emergency measure, Medairâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s WASH ERT installed a multi-tap distribution system at the main borehole, allowing up to six people to collect water at once. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;When we drove back to the site the day after installing the system, the results were clear from afar,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; says Tim. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;Instead of a long line of 100 jerry cans, there were just a few people gathered around the new tap stand.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157;Songs of PeaceWhile most of the people in these settlements are originally from Southern Sudan, there are also settlements made up of IDPs who are not from here, but instead have fled here from Darfur to escape the ongoing conflict.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;We donâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;t want to go back, we want to live here now,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; says Akon Malith, a mother of five. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;In Darfur, we had plenty of food and water, but there was always fighting so that we couldnâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;t sleep at night. But here, the borehole pump has been broken so we have been going into town to get water from the shallow wells there.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; In response, Medairâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s ERT repaired the two broken boreholes in Akonâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s IDP settlement. To date, the Medair team has already repaired 16 boreholes in Aweil North. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;Here we sleep well and even enjoy the night times, playing drums and dancing,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; says Akon. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;We want to unite ourselves to stay peaceful. We sing about this. We also sing and pray to God for freedom and that there would be no more war in Sudan.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157;At that moment, a group of IDP women gathered around the Medair team and began to sing. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;We appreciate that you have come to see us in our condition,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; their voices sang out. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;We give thanks to the community for welcoming us. We give thanks to everyone!â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157;A Turning PointIn the coming months, Medair expects that more returnees and IDPs will continue to flood into the region in the run-up to independence in July. While resource scarcity and a lack of essential services will challenge the peaceful rebuilding of this country, Medair is committed to working in Southern Sudan and to providing relief and rehabilitation at this crucial time in its history.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;Itâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s a privilege for us to be present at such a turning point in the history of this part of Africa,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; says Caroline Boyd, Medair Deputy Country Director. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;We really want to help the people of Southern Sudan make that transition into a peaceful new country.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;Iâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;m happy to be here in Southern Sudan,â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157; says 45-year-old Asunta. â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}156;Even if we have nothing, Iâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;m happy. Here I hope my children will go to school and university to learn and to become doctors or teachers.â&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}157;After far too many years of conflict, the longsuffering people of Southern Sudan now look with real hope to the prospect of a new era of peace and prosperity in their homeland. But for that once-distant dream to become reality, they need our assistance today to secure essential life-saving services for them during this transition period. Please make a donation to Medair today. Medairâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s Southern Sudan programme is supported by the European Commissionâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}153;s Humanitarian Aid department, the Common Humanitarian Fund, the Multi-Donor Trust Fund, Swiss Solidarity, the Basic Services Fund, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Big Give (U.K.), and private donors. Since 1991, Medair has responded to the needs of highly vulnerable people in conflict-affected Southern Sudanâ&${esc.hash}128;&${esc.hash}148;particularly women and children under five. We currently provide WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) and health services in Upper Nile State (Melut and Manyo counties), while our emergency response teams provide rapid, life-saving aid during crises within Southern Sudan's 10 states.This web feature was produced with resources gathered by Medair field and headquarters staff. The views expressed herein are those solely of Medair and should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of any other organisation.