‘Dodging the bullets was like going to hell but I had to save my children’
Refugee family in Gambella tell their story of escape and survival as futures are threatened by ration cuts
Mere Nyakon and James Galuak didn’t choose to leave South Sudan. One time, life had been good in Matiang town, Longochu County.
They owned their own house. James had a steady and fulfilling job as a teacher. Mere had career aspirations of her own, though these were on hold as she brought up their three young children.
Nobody chooses to trek through the forest for several days with their children, dodging bullets to stay alive, eating wild fruits and, in James’ case, contracting malaria, merely to reach a place where they have a better chance of staying alive.
“We were so exhausted and the food WFP gave us was like bringing us back to life”
“Trekking through the forest was no joke, dodging the bullets was like going to hell,” recalls James, staring at the ground. “I got malaria but I continued with my pain as I had to save my children. Reaching the Ethiopian boarder was like a miracle after travelling for five days and nights. I can’t forget those horrendous times.”
They travelled during early mornings when the fighting seemed to subside, eventually arriving at Pagak entry point in Gambella, eastern Ethiopia.
“We were welcomed with food, water and other basic things. We were so exhausted and the food WFP gave us was like bringing us back to life,” says Mere.
It has been four years since I arrived here and I am getting regular food rations. Wheat, sorghum, yellow peas, oil and salt are some of the items I receive for myself and my family. Now I have a family of five. My children are healthy due to the nutritious food.”
Both Mere and James want to provide themselves however, just as they did back home.
Mere crochets garments to use as bags, or bed or table covers, at Terkidi refugee camp. She also wants to bring in some money for the family. For that to happen, and to quench her thirst for education, she is attending classes at the government Terkidi high school in the camp.
“I am in grade 11 now and when I complete my education, I want to become a nurse,” she says.
Meanwhile James, who speaks English, has secured a job as a social worker at the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), one of the NGOs working in the Terkidi refugee camp.
Ethiopia holds happier memories for James, as he attended high school in the country. Now his own children are going to school here, even if this is not how he and Mere would have envisaged their education.
Refugee children are enrolled in primary schools in 18 camps across Ethiopia, where they receive a mid-morning or mid-afternoon porridge made of fortified blended food and sugar. In this way, children are receiving the nutrients they need as well as the education that can help them find a future career for themselves.
“My kids are more interested in going to school now, because they get food”
James’ and Mere’s eldest daughter is 9 years old, and in grade 1 where she “is performing quite well,” says James. His two sons are in preschool.
“My kids are more interested in going to school now, because they get food,” he adds. “Sometimes on a Saturday they get up and ready to go to school forgetting that it is closed on weekends.”
As James prepares for another day’s work, Mere continues her studies and their children head happily to school, theirs is typical of a family determined to support themselves into the future. It’s not the life they would have chosen, and their hope is still to return to their home and their previous routines, but it is a life.
James reflects how none of it would have been possible without the initial support the family received from WFP — support upon which over 190 refugees arriving each day in Gambella depend. “God bless WFP,” he said with a big smile. “There would have been a serious problem without WFP.” Their limited income means they still depend partly on the food that WFP brings.
WFP is grateful to the donors that have to date generously supported refugees in Gambella: Canada, ECHO, Germany, the United States and Saudi Arabia.
However, WFP’s ability to support other families, and to provide foundations for them to rebuild their own lives like in the case of James and Mere, is in serious doubt, as its refugee operation in Ethiopia faces critical funding gaps.
As of May, unless further funding arrives, WFP has been forced to cut rations by 40 percent of the entitlement in most refugee camps. As a result, each refugee is receiving the rough equivalent of one-and-a-half meals a day.
For thousands of mothers, fathers and children, wanting nothing more than to go back home or at least to survive in the meantime, the future has never been more uncertain.
Additional reporting: Paul Anthem
