Everyone has the weirdest and saddest moments in life and Rose Stella (pictured), an internally displaced person from Yei, also has one.
She is one of the more than 1,000 internally displaced persons from Otogo Payam of Yei River County that are now in dire need of humanitarian assistance due to the recent clashes that rocked the region.
They are currently housed at the Episcopal Church of South Sudan church compound in Yei town. She said they fled the area on the March 23, due to clashes that started between National Salvation Front [NAS] rebels and government forces in the area.
Stella, 38, is married with four children but she only has two of them by her side. Her other two children and her husband are yet to be traced.
She narrated how the fateful day began leading to her expulsion from a place she called home, and tearing apart her bond with her loved ones.
“We woke up very well just a normal day… my husband went to the garden and my neighbours as well [and] I remained home. [All] of a sudden we heard gun shots everywhere and I did was to grab the children who were home with me and I joined the people running,’’ she narrated.
She added, “I managed to run with only two children. My husband and the other two remained behind because of the fighting that broke out in my village Kularima.’’
The victims’ tales
Homeless and helpless, Stella found a makeshift shelter under a mango tree that would house her for three days alongside her colleagues. Her stay was a sad tale but one that is deeply engraved in her mind.
“From the time we came to Yei, we stayed under this mango tree for three days without food. We managed to get water to drink and for the three days we were eating mangoes,” she remembered.
“It was after three days when Bishop saw us and he helped with maize flour and that is how we were able to save our children by making for them porridge.”
She said that the porridge saved the children after intensively eating mangoes for three days.
‘‘As for us the parents we continued staying without food… some NOGs came and gave us some basic needs such as food and atleast we are able to eat once a day and I am happy for the people helping us,’’ she said.
She explained that they were given tents although without bedsheets.
One meal came to save the day but even more problems are still brooding in the camp. The IDPs have to makeshift beds.
“We just sleep on the floor there is nothing we use even to lay down for our children to sleep. We ran with nothing apart from the cloths that we were wearing, this is terrible,” Stella lamented.
Her worry is amplified by the absence of her husband and her two other children. “I am worried. It’s three months now [and] I have not gotten any message about my husband and the children. I have no idea where they are and besides there is no means of communication.”
Michael Taban Jackson, Acting Executive Ombasi Boma, the IDPs trekked for four days before reaching the church premises on the March 23, 2021.
“We are in bad condition and in high risk of COVID-19 due to overcrowdings within the church compound, so this situation of staying in one place is not good and the issue of lack of food is very serious,” he said.
Jackson is urging the International and national community to provide assistance in terms of food and nonfood items.