* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
You don't have to look far when you arrive by plane in the South Sudanese capital of Juba. The fear and suffering is visible at once. The UNMISS Camp Tongping is located right by the airport. That is where Peter has been living recently. I ask him how long he intends to remain at the camp. He looks at me incredulously. No, he cannot even begin to think about returning home to Malakal at the moment. The fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and losing his life in the fighting runs too deep. Peter is Lou Nuer, a sub-group of the Nuer. It is the largest ethnic group in South Sudan besides the Dinka, and is one of the two parties in a conflict that has been raging bitterly since December 2013. 1.3 million people have been displaced from their homes since the outbreak of the fighting, and almost four million are dependent on food aid. And more are added every day.
Peter finally made his way to Juba. At home in Malakal he works with young people. It is important work in a country that actually wanted to redefine itself after just having obtained independence. Now Peter is here in the camp, waits and hopes for peace – the kind of peace he can trust in.
Conditions in the camp are horrible, despite the assistance offered by aid agencies. Juba was not prepared for this onslaught of people, and especially not the UN peacekeeping force, whose grounds are now crowded by more than 20,000 people. Many children are playing in the narrow streets of the tent city with toys they made themselves. Two children are pulling a destroyed suitcase with two even smaller children behind them. Yes, they are playing - and that is a good thing. Most children have to help with getting water and wood charcoal for cooking, and doing laundry. None of them are doing well. It is obvious that they are not getting enough to eat. But at least they are safe from the fighting in the northern regions, in Unity State, Jonglei and Upper Nile.
Even within these regions, thousands have fled to safer areas. I flew to Ganyieli in Unity State together with our Country Director. This is where many have come for safety, because this location is surrounded by swamps, and the military does not engage in fighting here. The people know this after so many years of war. They know where the relatively safe areas are. In Ganyieli, our colleague Mary and her colleague from Zimbabwe, Michael, along with many South Sudanese helpers, are working to make life a little easier for those have been displaced - not an easy task.
We have seen that the World Food Programme has dropped hundreds of bags of grain from a plane. There will be more of these "air drops" in the coming days. There is an urgent need for food supplies. Many of the places where refugees are hiding are not accessible by land. This is due to the poor security situation, and sometimes there just aren't any roads. That is why help comes to these people, and also their helpers, by air.
On Friday, 10th of May, we received a message that the two representatives of the rivalling parties, incumbent President Salvar Kiir and the former Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar signed an agreement in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Abeba for a "Solution to the Crisis in the South Sudan". How much is that paper worth? How serious are the two men? Aid agencies are very sceptical. The last agreement in January was completely ignored. And it appears that this agreement has also been broken, even before the ink from the signatures has dried. At least that is reported by the colleagues who are helping in Bentiu. There, in the capital of Unity State, they are working with other helpers to look after the displaced. They report repeated instances of gun fire and shelling.
And still - giving up hope would mean giving up on the people. That is why Welthungerhilfe will stay. We have already been working in South Sudan since the 1990s, and took an active role in reconstruction and food security efforts. At this time, seven emergency aid projects in Northern Bar el Ghazal, Unity State and Juba provide food and basic supplies to the suffering population. Despite the extremely difficult conditions, we will try to ensure the survival of thousands of innocent people in the world's newest country. That is the only objective at the moment; to survive and hope for an end to this terrible and senseless war, so that the country can continue on a path of development. That is also what Peter is waiting for at the camp in Juba. Working with youths, he will be able to make a contribution to permanent peace and development. But to do this, he must first be secure in the knowledge that his own life is safe - not more and not less.
