On the edge of survival

Last year World Vision reached almost eight million people around the world who were struggling to feed themselves and their children. On World Food Day, 16 October, we are thinking of the people who still struggle to make sure their children get the food they need to grow up healthy and happy today.

Awol is struggling to raise her twin daughters in Kuajok, South Sudan. Abuk and Achan are nearly three years old, but their growth and development have been severely affected by malnutrition.

The twins have been suffering bouts of diarrhoea and fever since last year. The children lost their appetite and subsequently became malnourished.

“They were given Plumpy’nut®. This is the only food they eat, and I have stopped giving them other foods as they get diarrhoea when fed other foods at home,” says Awol.

The twins were first admitted to the hospital in June 2013, where they received therapeutic feeding and medical care from World Vision. By August, the twins were successfully treated and discharged. However, Achan relapsed into malnutrition in February due to inadequate food at home. Awol is also concerned that Abuk may become sick again.

“Children need soft and nutritious foods; I don’t have those foods at home. All I feed them is sorghum porridge. Now they are sick again and I have to bring them here for Plumpy’nut. This is the only food they like,” says Awol as she feeds Achan a sachet of the nutritional supplement.

Awol and her husband are hardworking famers. They grow sorghum and groundnuts for food. Every morning, Awol picks up a hoe to till the land ahead of the planting season. When she takes a break she goes to the forest to collect firewood that she can sell in the nearby market and earn a bit of money to buy food for home.

The family didn’t harvest any food last year because of floods. The flood affected at least five states including Warrap State, destroying plants and displacing people from their homes.

“Last year our crops were destroyed by floods. I don’t think we will harvest something this year because of erratic rains. I have been collecting and selling firewood in Kuajok since last dry season." says Awol.

The ongoing conflict in South Sudan has uprooted almost two million people from their homes during the critical planting season. An estimated seven million people will be food insecure by the end of the year or face famine.

Driven to collections

Mother of five Veronica is another mum struggling to feed her children in the current South Sudan crisis. “We were doing OK; it’s the conflict which brought us to this point,” she said during a recent visit to the food collection point.

Veronica and her family are from Malakal, South Sudan’s third largest city. In 2013 it was overrun six times by the army and the breakaway independent army. “Everything was destroyed. Our home is gone. My husband and I had to run with the children, but otherwise with nothing.”

A year with 20,000 other displaced people in the UN Peacekeeping compound has been made manageable by World Vision, she said. “My children are fine. I thank God they are alive and healthy, and getting food. When things were at their worst in Malakal, I prayed that God would remember us and help us. World Vision have kept us alive and given us food, a tent, a place for the children to play – a lot of help.”

Veronica sighed, “If these things weren’t here, we would have struggled to survive. I suppose I would have collected firewood and tried to sell it to get some food. My family and I thank God always because he brought us out of fear, when war came to our town, and here where World Vision helps us.”

Struggling to feed

Children are on the edge of survival due to the growing food crisis. Aid groups have warned that without urgent assistance, 50,000 South Sudanese children could die by the end of the year. At the Agei nutrition program in Kuajok, the number of malnourished children is growing every week.

World Vision is working round the clock with other aid groups to prevent famine. World Vision is responding to the needs of internally displaced persons with food assistance, safe drinking water, sanitation and protection to ensure survival of vulnerable children and families in South Sudan. Distributions provide families with a month’s supply of grains, pulses, oil and other essentials. World Vision is the largest distributor of World Food Programme relief in South Sudan.