Returnee family benefiting from CARE’s shelter project in Unity state
It’s not easy to pack up your whole life and leave a familiar place, but for Chuol the decision was a simple one. During the war, she moved to Khartoum, and when South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 she returned home. With the help of the International Organisation for Migration Chuol was able to get herself and her family registered as a returnee and make the arduous journey back home. “Life in Khartoum was not easy either” she said, and although she left the north with virtually nothing, at least the South was home. “Food prices and other items were much cheaper in Khartoum, but since we came back to Mayendit, my homeland, it’s difficult to survive due to the high cost of living and lack of infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. Despite all these challenges, my family is happy because we are now back at home. It’s better to suffer in your own home than in the foreign land”, she said.
The family arrived in Mayendit in January 2011 when large waves of people started returning to South Sudan, in particular to Unity State, which borders the Republic of Sudan in the North. She was able to get a small plot of land rent free from the local authorities. She built a small tukul (a cone-shaped mud hut, usually with a thatched roof) for her and her seven children, covered with plastic sheeting which did not always keep out the elements during the rainy season. Since then, Chuol was targeted by CARE’s Emergency Shelter project, which provided shelter to 3,600 of the most vulnerable returnees in four Counties of Unity state. When asked why she was chosen to be one of the shelter beneficiaries, she said “I was targeted because I’m a female headed household with 7 children and no income”.
‘I did most of the work myself’. She dug the holes, fixed the poles into place and mudded the walls inside and out. Her neighbours helped her with fixing the thatch as this is a specialised skill that she did not know. CARE provided traditional construction tools to facilitate digging. Training that is provided as part of the project teaches people the different techniques required to achieve a quality build. CARE community mobilisers also visit beneficiaries to provide support and ensure that each task is completed before they move on to the next. When each task is completed, the last thing to be given to the beneficiaries is the door.
Chuol’s plan now that the tukul is complete is to start cultivating crops. She will start to prepare the land soon and will start to plant seeds when the rain starts. She will let her eldest son look after the other siblings whilst she tends to the fields because she has no other choice. Because the community is supportive of returnees, she will also get some help from her neighbours, as they know that it’s difficult to maintain a livelihood as well as looking after seven children.
“Despite the many challenges that my family is facing such as inadequate food and lack of income, I am happy that we are living in the tukul that I built”.