Read Online Seed of South Sudan by Majok Marier - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Majok Marier
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Many boys used to collect maize that dropped on the floor during distribution, and thatâs all they got. We were naked because UNHCR did not provide clothes. The young children were not able to survive under the trees without food and blankets. We lived under trees for six months, and in that time we lost more boys because of these lacks.
I remembered three boys who died at night because of starvation. It was one day that we had received a small amount of food in the distribution and some people decided to keep it for the following morning so they would have enough food until the next food arrived. When we woke up in the morning, the three had died while they slept. They had not eaten for two days and probably theyâd had even less over the months. The UNHCR official came to see what happened to those children, and some of the other boys were selected to go and bury them. We used to bury our friends, and this was unjust to have a child bury another child at our age.
There was no regular food available for five to six months. In that time, hundreds of children died. The children also had malaria, malnourishment, diarrhea and dysentery. If you have some corn and you donât even boil it, and you have a long time not eating anything, it can have a reaction on your stomach. And if you drink a lot of water, that can also bring diarrhea. Diarrhea killed a lot of people. Also, chicken pox started coming out on the bodies. Nobody got immunizations when they were young, so those were the other things that people had.
We would go to the cemetery for the burial of a person in our group, and we would see another child we knew being buried. It seems like those burials happened every day.
Where was the world while this happened? Couldnât the UNHCR have acted faster to bring food and shelter to prevent the deaths of these children? They are supposed to be looking out for disasters like this, thousands and thousands of children and refugee familiesâcouldnât the countries of the world have moved faster to help us? Those are questions I still have.
How did we deal with these desperate conditions? Older Sudanese refugees in the camp came up with the idea of organizing games and dances. There were dances for children that involved a series of moves like a couple of girls would dance and then they would select a boy to dance with them, and then two of those would dance together while the second girl would then select another partner. Other children clapped their hands to provide the music. Children took turns selecting each other as partners until everyone was dancing. These kinds of games and dances were entertaining.
Iâve mentioned before that there were many languages among all the people on the long walk to Ethiopia. In camp, this was true as well. We found people who could speak our language by hearing someone saying words we recognized. There was a connection, and we did things together. In Group 9, I found some others who spoke the same Agar Dinka language. Then, as we did on our journey, where we had different words for the same thing, we would agree on words we would all use in common to help us understand each other.
While these were necessary distractions, life continued to be hard in Pinyudo. One incident shows how just trying to provide for shelter had life-and-death consequences. I think there should have been a better way to watch over the many, many children in the camp and provide for their safety. This day ended up with some children becoming lost, and probably they died. We do not know.
At the time of this trip into the bush, it was six months after we arrived at Pinyudo. Food deliveries had become more regular. Some adult refugees were identified who could become our teachers. We were still sleeping under trees.
In our group, Group 9, we were ages six, seven, eight, and nine. Our group leaders and teachers had organized a trip to find our shelter and bedding material in the forest. We
I remembered three boys who died at night because of starvation. It was one day that we had received a small amount of food in the distribution and some people decided to keep it for the following morning so they would have enough food until the next food arrived. When we woke up in the morning, the three had died while they slept. They had not eaten for two days and probably theyâd had even less over the months. The UNHCR official came to see what happened to those children, and some of the other boys were selected to go and bury them. We used to bury our friends, and this was unjust to have a child bury another child at our age.
There was no regular food available for five to six months. In that time, hundreds of children died. The children also had malaria, malnourishment, diarrhea and dysentery. If you have some corn and you donât even boil it, and you have a long time not eating anything, it can have a reaction on your stomach. And if you drink a lot of water, that can also bring diarrhea. Diarrhea killed a lot of people. Also, chicken pox started coming out on the bodies. Nobody got immunizations when they were young, so those were the other things that people had.
We would go to the cemetery for the burial of a person in our group, and we would see another child we knew being buried. It seems like those burials happened every day.
Where was the world while this happened? Couldnât the UNHCR have acted faster to bring food and shelter to prevent the deaths of these children? They are supposed to be looking out for disasters like this, thousands and thousands of children and refugee familiesâcouldnât the countries of the world have moved faster to help us? Those are questions I still have.
How did we deal with these desperate conditions? Older Sudanese refugees in the camp came up with the idea of organizing games and dances. There were dances for children that involved a series of moves like a couple of girls would dance and then they would select a boy to dance with them, and then two of those would dance together while the second girl would then select another partner. Other children clapped their hands to provide the music. Children took turns selecting each other as partners until everyone was dancing. These kinds of games and dances were entertaining.
Iâve mentioned before that there were many languages among all the people on the long walk to Ethiopia. In camp, this was true as well. We found people who could speak our language by hearing someone saying words we recognized. There was a connection, and we did things together. In Group 9, I found some others who spoke the same Agar Dinka language. Then, as we did on our journey, where we had different words for the same thing, we would agree on words we would all use in common to help us understand each other.
While these were necessary distractions, life continued to be hard in Pinyudo. One incident shows how just trying to provide for shelter had life-and-death consequences. I think there should have been a better way to watch over the many, many children in the camp and provide for their safety. This day ended up with some children becoming lost, and probably they died. We do not know.
At the time of this trip into the bush, it was six months after we arrived at Pinyudo. Food deliveries had become more regular. Some adult refugees were identified who could become our teachers. We were still sleeping under trees.
In our group, Group 9, we were ages six, seven, eight, and nine. Our group leaders and teachers had organized a trip to find our shelter and bedding material in the forest. We
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