This month in Uganda we are staying on the Imvepi Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda. We are serving with a ministry called Child Voice whose goal is to “Restore the Voices of Children Silenced by War”.
First, before explaining the ministry and what we are working with I thought it was important to understand the “why” behind it. ChildVoice aims to help children who were victims of war. The war the children are victims of here at the Imvepi Refugee Settlement is the tribal war that is currently happening in South Sudan.
The war in South Sudan has been an on going war since 2013, the war is between two major protagonists and the largest ethnic communities; the Dinka and the Nuer. Today there are at least 9 other major ethnic rebel groups in the country.
According to UNICEF data 1,300 minors were enrolled as child soldiers in 2016. This leads to more than 19,000 total children used in the conflict that started.
Since 2013, UNICEF and partners have documented; 2,342 children killed or mutilated; 3,090 children abducted; 1,130 children sexually abused; and 303 episodes of attacks or military use of schools or hospitals. In 2018 it was estimated that 400,000+ have died in the South Sudan war.
More than 1 million South Sudanese people have fled to northern Uganda’s refugee camps, yet many Americans are unaware of the crisis. The Uganda refugee camps are all located in the West Nile region of the country.
The majority of the people who have come to the refugee camps fled on foot as their villages and homes were under attack by rebel troops and government soldiers. Many fled for fear of indiscriminate killings, ethnically motivated attacks, torture, looting, and burning of homes, as well as the forced recruitment of young people by armed groups in South Sudan. Many traveled on foot for several days through the bush, when those on foot reached the border, they had to find a registration point where they could officially be registered as refugees and then taken by bus to a settlement camp.
Many children arrive alone, the organizations do what they can to find the child’s family but if they cannot be found they place them with a South Sudanese foster family. According to World Vision in 2018, more than 9,000 unaccompanied minors have been registered at the refugee camps.
The challenges experienced at these refugee camps is adequate water supply, and consistent food supply. The monthly food ration given to the refugees is sometimes delayed causing the inconsistency.
The schooling here in the refugee settlements are limited and the quality of education is low. School rooms are crowded and teachers often have as many as 128 students in class, according to UNHCR, the UN’s official refugee agency.
Children are encouraged to attend school, but the reasons for not attending are many; often, they have to help their families by working in the fields or caring for younger siblings, and young girls with no feminine hygiene products are too embarrassed to attend. There are also safety issues just in getting to and from school, especially for young girls.
So what is ChildVoice’s role?
This ministry, ChildVoice, aims to help young girls and women through spiritual and emotional counseling, psychosocial support, health and hygiene classes, agricultural education, and vocational training. Their goal is to reach more than 2,500 girls who are already child mothers or who are pregnant or at risk of becoming pregnant, providing them with love, home, and life changing programs .
To accomplish these goals the organization establishes Girl Empowerment Centers and Groups within internally displaced person camps and refugee settlements, where a high percentage of young girls are orphaned or are part of child headed households with extremely limited means of meeting their basic needs and protecting themselves against abuse.
Our World Race team has gotten the opportunity to go into the field (refugee settlements) with the case workers and counselors to meet refugees, pray with them, and help them with the daily classes they attend through ChildVoice. The girls are taught tailoring, baking, how to make liquid soap, agriculture skills, etc. They are being taught skills that will help them provide for themselves and their families. These girls want to learn and grow spiritually and learn a new way of life here in Uganda. They do not know when or if they will ever get to return to their home country of South Sudan. But they pray everyday to be reunited with their family members who are still alive and to live their life for Jesus Christ, being leaders in their community and helping other women in their community grow.
If you are interested in learning more about this organization you can visit their website at www.childvoiceintl.org
