When militia on horseback descended on his village, slashing and shooting, Maluak Aduany fled with his family to the relative safety of Wau town.
‘You see horses running behind you. You run. If you are lucky, then you escape. If you are unlucky, they will kill you,’ says Maluak.
Far from home
As combatants moved across southern Sudanese states like Bahr el Ghazal where Maluak lives they took food, bedding and other items from civilians, leaving communities struggling to survive.
By the time Maluak, his son Peter and the rest of the family arrived in Wau, they were left with almost nothing.
Around ten years on, Maluak and his family have built a life in Baryar on the outskirts of Wau. They have a small patch of land they have been allowed to farm and Peter has worked hard to secure an education for himself.
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Accessing education
‘Before I came to school I was doing business to get some small amount of money,’ says Peter. ‘After I got enough, I came to school for registration because I think that it is only school that will free me later on.’
Christian Aid partner Hope Agency for Relief and Development (HARD) is working with Baryar’s Parent Teacher Association to ensure that despite their hardships, families like Peter’s prioritise education and send their children to school.
Many of the families in the area are still displaced and have little to feed their children each day so HARD have built a new kitchen and rehabilitated the school’s latrines. This means the school can access World Food Programme support to ensure pupils have at least one nutritious meal every day and are better able to concentrate on their lessons as they begin to rebuild their lives.
Waiting to return
Maluak and Peter’s home in rural Bahr el Ghazal is now peaceful and the brutal raids of the muraheleen militia seem to be a thing of the past. But Maluak is reluctant to return to an area where services are poor and there is no opportunity for children to go to school until Peter and his siblings have finished their education.
For Maluak, remaining rootless is a price he is prepared to pay if it means a healthier and more secure life for his children. ‘Without education our children have no future,’ he says.
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