25 Apr 2012

SOUTH SUDAN / NUBA MOUNTAINS DISPLACED

The conflict in the Nuba region of Sudan is pushing refugees to flee all the way to the capital Juba in Southern Sudan. UNHCR

Posted at: April 25, 2012 2:17 pm

Duration: 02:43

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / NUBA MOUNTAINS DISPLACED
TRT: 2.43
SOURCE: UNHCR 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SUDANESE ARABIC
RESTRICTIONS: NONE

DATELINE: 29, 30 MARCH 2012, LOLOGO SETTLEMENT, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

SHOTLIST

1. Wide shot, people walking at the Lologo Village
2. Med shot, huts
3. Med shot, Helen pleating her daughter's hair
4. Med shot, bucket with water being elevated from a well 
5. Wide shot, a man taking the water to the house
6. Various shots, Helen drinking water with her baby
7. SOUNDBITE (Sudanese Arabic) Helen Akompeo, Sudanese refugee
"When the war started, whether you were a soldier or a civilian, the soldiers were killing everybody. They even killed children. They attacked both on the ground and from the air using bombs."
8. Wide shot, Helen walking with her children
9. SOUNDBITE (Sudanese Arabic) Helen Akompeo, Sudanese refugee:
"It was difficult to survive. We were living on wild fruits, but sometimes we could sneak back home to get some foodstuff and water and then go back to the bush."
10. Med shot, Helen preparing to make porridge for her children
11. Various shots, children in the church
12. Med shot, Helen selling mandazi
13. Various shots, Maka breaking stones into gravel
14. SOUNDBITE (Sudanese Arabic) Maka Ahmadi Shadid, Sudanese refugee
"I used to communicate with my family over the phone, but now the communication is cut off and I don't know how they are. The last time I heard from them is when my elder daughter called me. They had gone to look for wild fruits to eat when a branch from a tree hit her eye. It swelled but she couldn't get treatment because there is none." 
15. Med shot, Helen preparing to cook for her children
16. SOUNDBITE (Sudanese Arabic) Helen Akompeo, Sudanese refugee: 
"We are worried for them. We were there and we know what is going on there. There are bombs, anytime they can be killed. It will be God's luck if they survive."
17. Close up, Helen's children eating
18. Various shots of Lologo village scenes

STORYLINE:

This patchwork of plastic sheets, cardboard and bamboo, near Juba in South Sudan, is what Helen Akompeo calls home.

She shares it with her six children and another family.

To sleep, there are only three straw beds.

To get water, they had to dug a hole in the ground.

But they say they are the lucky ones, they got away when the fighting broke out last June in Sudan's Nuba Mountains.

SOUNDBITE (  ) Helen Akompeo, Sudanese refugee:
"When the war started, whether you were a soldier or a civilian, the soldiers were killing everybody. They even killed children. They attacked both on the ground and from the air using bombs."

For two months, Helen and her family hid in the bush and foraged for foods under the cover of night.

SOUNDBITE (  ) Helen Akompeo, Sudanese refugee: 
"It was difficult to survive. We were living on wild fruits, but sometimes we could sneak back home to get some foodstuff and water and then go back to the bush."

When the fighting persisted they decided to leave for good. They walked for days to the nearest port and took a barge down the Nile to Juba.

They are not alone. 11 other families who fled the Nuba Mountains are living here too.
 
A local church gives them food rations while UNHCR provides clothing, plastic sheets and bamboos for shelter.

To make a bit of money, Helen cooks mandazi, a local snack she sells for breakfast.

Her neighbour, Maka Shadid was a farmer. He now breaks stones into gravel to be sold for construction work.

Maka escaped with some members of his family, but had to leave his wife and four children in the Nuba Mountains.

SOUNDBITE (  ) Maka Ahmadi Shadid, Sudanese refugee:
 "I used to communicate with my family over the phone, but now the communication is cut off and I don't know how they are. The last time I heard from them is when my elder daughter called me. They had gone to look for wild fruits to eat when a branch from a tree hit her eye. It swelled but she couldn't get treatment because there is none."

Helen too is worried about her family back home.

SOUNDBITE (  ) Helen Akompeo, Sudanese refugee: 
 "We are worried for them. We were there and we know what is going on there. There are bombs, anytime they can be killed. It will be God's luck if they survive."

Helen's own future is uncertain. Her small business is not enough to live on. The children need to go to school. She doesn't know if the local hospitality will run out.

UNHCR is negotiating for some land from the Juba authorities so that these refugees can put up temporary homes a small glimmer of hope in their disrupted lives.

Filed under 13.01.00 - PROTECTION OF AND ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS South Sudan UNCHR - United Nations Commission on Human Rights.