DanChurchAid Risk Education Team protects vulnerable internally displaced people who fled their homes during the recent outbreak of fighting in South Sudan
By Marysia Zapasnik
The sun has barely risen above the horizon and the air is still cold and crisp.
Apart from the cockerels, most of god’s creatures are still sleeping. Yet there is movement in the small river Nile port of Minkamman. Men wrapped in blankets, brush their teeth with sticks and wash their faces and feet in the river.
A few women, carrying bags on their heads, stand on the shore and look across the water as a metal barge pulls in.
The DCA Risk Education team is there to greet the early morning risers.
“Good morning,” says Juma, the Team Leader, using a megaphone.
“Anyone going to Bor today, please look this way for some safety information that could save your life.”
The DanChurchAid Risk Education team, wearing their distinctive blue t-shirts, stand at the side of the port, smile at the passengers and encourage them to come closer to the banners and posters they are holding.
They ran for their lives
Funded by CHF, the Risk Education team arrived in the Minkamman camp for internally displaced people (IDP), in South Sudans Lakes State, more than a week ago. There are over 80,000 IDPs in the camp, all having escaped the fierce fighting in Bor and the surrounding areas in December 2013 and January 2014.
Bor, the capital of Jonglei State, is just across the river Nile. They came in metal barges and boats under cover of darkness with only the few belongings they were able to grab as they ran for their lives.
Life in the IDP camp is harsh. Extended families crowd under thorn trees, with little protection from the scorching sun in the day and the cold temperatures at night. Now, as the fighting in Bor seems to have subsided, some of them are making a desperate trip back across the river to check on their houses and animals and to collect any of their belongings that have not been looted or burnt. An extra blanket, a mattress, perhaps some clothes and a cooking pot. All things that are needed in the camp.
Going back to the war zone
As these people go to Bor they are at risk from the many Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) that are scattered around the area. These dangerous items include mortars, projectile, hand grenades and small arms ammunition. It is for this reason that the DCA RE team provides Risk Education at the small port at dawn every morning, before the barge departs to Bor.
“We show the people pictures of unexploded ordnance and mines” explains Dedi, one of the team members.
“We tell them not to touch these items and explain what might happen if these items explode. We do not want any of these people to be injured, maimed or killed. The killing during the recent conflict was terrible, and we do not want anything bad to happen to these survivors.”
Tailored especially for the audience
The RE session is short and to the point. The passengers are nervous about their trip and what they might find on the other side of the river.
“We have tailored our RE session especially for these people” says Amer, a Dinka speaker in the team.
“We know they cannot concentrate for long. As soon as the barge arrives they must quickly climb on board to grab one of the limited seats. We give them short simple messages that they can easily understand and remember.”
Learning by singing and playing
The RE team then moves on to work in the IDP camp. Most of the IDPs are women and children and the team uses songs and games as part of their RE.
“With the children, we are field testing two new DCA RE games and a song,” says Akujo, as the team takes a break in between sessions.
“DCA always tries to improve the RE sessions we provide and to really tailor them to the audience and the risk. This makes working for DCA always a challenge and very interesting.”
In the first game the children play, they learn to recognize dangerous items and in the second, the children learn what to do if they see such items.
“Kachi, dunejak, le mama,” shout the children in the background. This is Dinka for: Stop, do not touch, and report to your mother. They show the actions that go together with the words with energy and enthusiasm.
Singing and laughter - sings of normalcy
The RE team has begun working with children in the Child Friendly Spaces recently set up by Plan and Save the Children. There are no schools operating in the IDP camp. Participating in fun, energetic and innovative RE sessions brings obvious joy to the children. Their happy singing voices and shrieking laughter introduces a sign of normalcy and hope for the camp population.
As reaching all 80,000 IDPs will not be possible, the team is also training male and female Community Focal Points who help DCA to spread the safety messages to their respective peer groups. Community Focal Points are selected through meetings with local authorities and the communities themselves to ensure that the most at risk people are targeted.
So far, the team has provided tailor-made RE to over 1300 IDPs, educated and entertained children in Child Friendly Spaces eight times and trained 110 community focal points. There is still a lot of work to do, but they do it with a smile, always.
The passengers thank the team for helping to protect them, and after a short prayer the barge departs.