Agony, Affliction & Suffering: Welcome to Southern Sudan
As soon as our Emergency Relief team exited the Somalia Region last month after delivering tens of thousands of meals to hungry children and their families they courageously entered the South Sudan, where raids and continued bombing strikes have made their trips extremely dangerous. Below is our Team Leader’s Account and Report of the trip in which they were able to deliver and provide tens of thousands of meals for the desperate children and their families: “It’s 113F Degrees, extremely hot and the some of the harshest and driest conditions imaginable. I walk around the villages. Sick and malnourished children are everywhere. Every other child seems to be suffering from Malaria, shaking and sweating despite the heat. Men and Women are wounded from the raids. Children are missing and probably been abducted during the same raids. This is Sudan.” Thankfully our Emergency Relief Team was able to provide villages with not only the meals that they needed but with more than 6,000 mosquito nets to keep the children and their families safe from contracting malaria during their sleep. Our Emergency Relief Team Director goes on to explain the Mother’s that he met. “The families are broken, the Mothers so horrified that they cannot even speak. The Mothers that could speak were overwhelmed with tears, recounting how they had been forced to flee their homes with their children, barely escaping with their lives and nothing else. They shared with me how they had struggled to provide food for their children under trees to escape the heat of the melting hot sun.” “The stories were heart wrenching but also encouraging as both the Mothers and their Husbands thanked Children’s Hunger Relief Fund for helping them through these horrific times (many of these villages we have been to before to provide support), it was a testimony of gratitude from the families, encouragement that together we have done good and made ALL of the difference to many of the children and families out here.” After being encouraged by testimonies and stories from many of the families our Emergency Team has continued to help, our team leader found that he would need all of the encouragement he could receive in order to face the suffering after traveling to other villages to deliver more support. “Villages of the Nuba are being bombed and hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent men, women and children are being killed. South Korfodan around Kurmuk is being bombed regularly causing tens of thousands to flee their homes. George Clooney did a bit on this in March on Cable Television.” “I met a beautiful young girl, her name is Nyajuok Rial, she is only 18 years old. Recently she was shot twice in the legs then stabbed three times on her arm and back. Helpless bystanders who witnessed the brutal attack were sure she was dead. Somehow she survived, her three year old brother however has been abducted.” “I walk down to another hut, another young boy who was shot twice has miraculously survived one of the deadly raids.” With so much suffering and desperate stories it’s hard to believe that any of this is real, but it is. Despite being surrounded by pain and suffering our CHRF team writes how they, and CHRF Donors, are helping: “This place still reeks of genocide and civil war. It doesn’t matter what’s in the news. The truth is these children and their families desperately need your help! Together, with the compassion and generosity in the heart’s of our CHRF Donors, we are making a difference in these people’s lives, we aren’t just bringing them mosquito nets, food, and supplies, we are bringing them hope. Our CHRF donors are showing these children that there are people out there who care about them and are willing to do something to help. It’s an honor to be the bridge between our donor’s generosity and the children who need it the most!” Thank you for your continued support and partnership to help the hungry and desperate children of Sudan and their Families continue to find a way to live! Donate to CHRF now at https://donate.chrf.org/childrens_hunger_relief_fund.html & Visit us at http://chrf.org/index.html