In 2020, the entire villages were wiped out by the worst flooding South Sudan has faced in years. Many of them are now abandoned and large areas have turned to swamps.
The water still hasn’t receded in the majority of places more rain keeps falling and it’s putting everyone at risk. Here is an update on what’s happening and how you can pray.
The harvests were also completely destroyed all the crops and livestock gone. Last year’s harvest in July should have fed people until this spring. But it was all washed away. Hunger is a pressing issue now for too many people.’
Furthermore, many survivors say Life before the floods was good because they used to cultivate sorghums and raised some cattle. The community raised many animals and sadly all were lost to the floods.
‘Currently, many families survive by collecting and selling firewood and bundles of dry grass while others supplement Sometimes by going to fish. Whenever they sell these fish, they collect some small money to buy food for the family.
As a result of the rain, many families relocated to temporary camps, where many people have been forced to stay. While in the camps, there is improved access to safe sanitation by building latrines. However, despite the continuing rainfall, in vulnerable areas like this, the risk of waterborne illnesses is high and can be fatal. Access to clean water and safe sanitation becomes a lifeline.
Nutrition centers where the much needed support to families facing hunger and malnutrition have been completely damaged by the floods. Organizations working in the area have been able to secure funding for four temporary sites. These are closer to where communities have been forced to move to and means humanitarian agencies can continue this vital work which is needed more now than ever.
Tearfund, an organization in the area has also acquired canoes so that we can support remote communities and places that have been cut off by flood waters.
Considerably, If the weather patterns continue to change, more flooding is yet to be seen. However, a more valuable approach then will have to be in place to support affected communities experiencing this change.
If these situations persist, People will have to find new land to live, grow crops and graze cattle on.
Four out of five of South Sudan’s 11 million people live in “absolute poverty”, according to the World Bank in 2018, while more than 60 percent of its population suffers from severe hunger from the combined effects of conflict, drought and floods.
Since achieving independence from Sudan in 2011, the young nation has been in the throes of a chronic economic and political crisis, and is struggling to recover from the aftermath of a five-year civil war that left nearly 400,000 people dead.
Although a 2018 ceasefire and power-sharing deal between President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar still largely holds, it is being sorely tested, with little progress made in fulfilling the terms of the peace process.
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