To me, these photos speak for themselves and perfectly capture the first half of our month in Uganda. They are full of women, children, and men- all of whom have felt freedom, redemption, and refuge in their escape from South Sudan (~95% and ~5% freedom from other surrounding areas such as the Congo). While Imvepi Refugee Settlement provided all of those things, the journey to the camp is not easy. Each journey different from the next, but all the same filled with fear, abandonment, and tragedy.
The joy and hope found within the settlement is nothing short of astonishing, inspiring, and most of all humbling.
A few of the things that are pictured include girls from different areas of the settlement playing one another in netball, so many kids/babies- a majority of whom come from child mothers and are living without a father figure, women marching against gender-based violence, bible study meetings, items distributed by Child Voice to young women in need, a gathering to celebrate HIV/AIDS awareness day, hygiene education, women learning vocational skills such as baking or sewing, non-school-going adolescent girls singing or dancing, children standing up for equality, and laughter.
I hope that these leave you feeling hopeful for those around the world who are fighting a hard battle and winning- for refugees who are re-establishing home and learning how to live without fear once again, for people who live out faith every single day, for young women who are learning what it feels to be empowered and equipped, and for children who are finding their voices again.
