In 2016 February he left Yei, South Sudan when fighting between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and opposition groups forced him to flee. Currently, he and his family have been sheltering in Moyo town with support from relatives from Canada and after being enrolled as refugees in Moyo district.
“I left Yei town on 15 February, 2016 because of the fighting. Armed men attacked us at 4pm. I had to run with my other relatives. I left everything– there was no time to take anything. I was just carried the baby and ran,” said Nyuon.
“They [the armed men] were firing their guns in the town. They raped and killed women, the girls, in the town. They killed my brother and both his children, and also my father and my uncle.They burnt some of the tukuls [mud huts], they took the cattle and they even destroyed the boreholes in the community. In Yei we had a big garden and some cattle. We lost our cows and the goats to them.”
“When we were in Yei, we had enough food for the family. The only food we get now is from [aid] distributions and sometimes we buy in Moyo town Market. Some of my relatives still leave in the settlement and my elder sister Rose Mary Ajeri lost one of her kids from malaria a week after our arrival. His name was Nyadel, he was five years old.” Said Nyuon.
Nhunyu Chaar, 42, worked as a pharmacist for MSF in Palorinya. After fleeing Yei in February, 2016 with his wife and three children, he came to Palorinya Refugee settlement in Moyo district where he joined other MSF staff members to run mobile clinics to provide people with basic healthcare.
“I was born and raised in Yei town. Then, in the early 90s, my parents decided to leave for Juba, because of the conflict and because there was no more food. I came back from Juba during the peace agreement time. I got married in Yei town in 2009. My wife is originally from Bari. At that time, I had a lot of cattle. Now I have only six cows which I’m keeping with a Ugandan friend. Thank God one of them gave birth recently. We had a really good life in Yei.”
“I started working for MSF in 2011 as an outreach worker, and then in 2014 I became the pharmacist. The work was good; we had a lot of patients. We were 30 staff, including 17 medical workers. The attackers came at 2 pm and they started firing their guns. When we had arrived at the hospital that morning, the supervisor had told us to go back home to be with our families in case the situation got worse. At that time, we heard the guns and we asked the patients also to go back home to be with their relatives.”
“They [the attackers] took everything in the clinic – everything. They killed people who were not running, the elderly and disabled. Afterwards, rapes happened. I only took my bag with my computer and my MSF T-shirt and came here. I left my money behind. When I arrived here (Lowi Quarter in Moyo town) with my family, my father-in-law gave us a tukul [mud hut] and helped me to have a bit of money by selling goods in the market.”
“As soon as we arrived [in Palorinya], we – the MSF staff – started working from here, giving the drugs to the patients who needed them each with six medical staff and four guards, running three mobile clinics.”
“I like Yei, but Moyo town is equally good and I have started learning how to speak Madi language and when peace returns to our Country (South Sudan) we shall go back. I know that a part of my house was destroyed and that they stole everything and all my money, but I still want to go back.”
