South Sudan is a five year old girl

Story and photos by Lucy Beck. Five year old Nyawich was born just 4 days after Independence. She has been living in the UN Mission in South Sudan’s ‘Protection of Civilians’ (POC) site since April 2014 with her mother Nyasigin, father, 2 siblings and grandmother. They come from the nearby town of Bentiu but ran to the area of Guit when their home was burnt down and when the fighting also reached Guit they ran back to the POC to seek refuge.

  Nyasunday’s mother Nyasigin left her to stay with her grandmother in Guit for 4 months before sending someone to bring them to join them in the POC. She was only able to carry her younger son with her when she initially came, and because she is from the Dinka tribe, but married to someone from the Nuer tribe, she was afraid to leave the POC to come and collect them herself and to move around alone as she feared she would be killed.   In 2014, during the rainy season, Nyawich developed a bad cough which developed into an unknown eye condition that she still has to this day with means she has one cross eye which affects her balance and causes her to fall or trip often when walking or playing. In 2014 conditions within the POC were dire, and when it rained the base would flood with mud everywhere and people often forced to sleep standing up in over 10 inches of water and holding their children. Although she doesn’t know what caused Nyawich’s illness her mother thinks these terrible conditions contributed to it. Nyawich shares her home with her grandmother, parents and 2 siblings. Her youngest brother, who is just 9 months old, was born in the POC and has never left it in his short life. Before the conflict her parents ran a small shop in Bentiu town selling staples like sugar, cooking oil and charcoal. They lost all this when the fighting came to Bentiu town and their home and shop were burnt to the ground.   Nyawich’s family were not able to bring any of their possessions with them when they fled to the POC. Nyawich usually plays in the road outside with friends – running around or skipping – or within the compound with the things she finds lying around like a cup, or figurines made out of the mud. Nyawich shows off her Sunday best outfit that she wears to church. The family go every Sunday to one of the churches built out of temporary materials in the POC, usually to the early morning service at 6am. Despite all the suffering and difficulty many families inside the POC try their best to maintain their traditions and continue to live as normal a life as possible.   Nyawich sits in the small compound outside their makeshift home in the POC. Her mother Nyasigin says the biggest challenge of life in the POC is that they can’t work and make money. She goes out and collects firewood in the nearby forest, which she stores in the compound and sells, but this can also be dangerous as instances of rape in these forested areas have been high since the beginning of the conflict. Nyawich washes her face in the compound of her home with water from the nearby handpump. All services including water, latrines, schools, food and health centre are provided by around 17 NGOs and 8 UN agencies working inside the POC.   Nyawich sleeps on a raised bed with her mother and youngest brother. Her grandmother, father and middle brother sleep on a mat on the floor.