I am not in the habit of writing
about individual children at the home because I think it is a breach of
confidentiality. Children often come to
me and talk about their lives, not expecting their stories to be
broadcast. However, we have just received
three new children whose story really should be told. In any case, there is a need for sponsors for
these children. Their names are Luka (9), Foni (6) and Nana (3).
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| Luka, Foni and Nana |
Their story reflects both the
terrible civil war situation in other parts of South Sudan and also the very
common family situations which cause children to end up uncared for, either as
street children, neglected children or in a home such as Cornerstone.
Most people, including me, are
uncomfortable with the idea of children’s homes or orphanages. It can be very difficult for institutionalised
children to manage once they leave.
Therefore we tend to think children are better off in a family or with a
loving foster family. It is a much more
natural environment.
However, in South
Sudan this is rarely possible. Many
marriages are polygamous and it is culturally acceptable for stepparents to
discriminate against those who are not their own offspring. The wicked stepmother is alive and well, and
lives in South Sudan. Conversely, where
divorce takes place and the mother remarries, her children are rarely accepted
by her new husband. In spite of what I
had always heard before coming to Africa, the tribe does not often behave like
an extended family.
Last week at morning devotions, we
were told the following simple facts:
Three new children would be coming to live with us, aged 9, 6 and
3. They come from Bor, where the
fighting is intense. Their parents have
both been killed and the children were rescued from their home, which had been
set on fire. They speak only their own
tribal language. The eldest boy is in a
very emotional and traumatised state, repeatedly asking for his mother. The children were all asked to be very kind
and patient with them when they arrived.
I now know the whole story. The father was the first to die. Then, sometime later, soldiers shot the
mother while she was trying to escape, carrying the youngest child. The older two hid in their hut, which was
then torched. Amazingly, none of the
children were hurt. The youngest
stayed next to her mother’s body. A Good
Samaritan rescued them all and put them in a truck of people fleeing the
fighting. The truck dropped everyone in
the middle of nowhere. Another truck
came and agreed to take them all to Nimule.
Nobody took any responsibility for the children. When they arrived, they left the children at
the police station.
In the meantime their uncle, who is a
soldier, discovered that his brother and sister-in-law were dead and assumed
that the children must also have been killed.
Fortunately somebody told him about the rescue, although nobody knew
where the truck had taken the children.
The uncle frantically tried to track them down and discovered that they
were in Nimule. He and his family came
to Nimule to find them. As the uncle had
to go back to Bor he left his wife and children to care for the orphaned
children. This turned out to be a very bad
move. His wife, in true wicked
stepmother style, had no intention of caring for the children. She simply did not feed them. Another Good Samaritan alerted the police,
who contacted Pastor Juma, the pastor at Cornerstone. Fortunately Pastor Juma speaks some of the
children’s language so he was able to converse with them. The eldest broke down in tears when he said
that they hadn’t eaten for two days. He
kept asking for his mother even though he knew she was dead. Pastor Juma contacted the uncle and asked him
to return to Nimule to sign an agreement for the children to live at
Cornerstone. He arrived at the weekend
and was relieved to find a home for the children.
The children arrived at their new
home on Sunday after staying a few days elsewhere while the uncle arrived and
the agreement paperwork was sorted out.
I had been very worried in advance about how the home would cope with these traumatised children and how the new children would cope with being at Cornerstone. I prayed about it a lot and asked friends to pray too. My fears proved to be completely unjustified.
I was at church when they arrived, but heard from the matron that they
had looked terrified when they arrived in the home’s office and said goodbye to
their uncle.
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| Nana and her two new friends run to school on her first day at nursery |
Then some of the ‘old
hands’ were asked to show the children around and look after them. Literally minutes later they were all playing
happily with children their own age in spite of the language barrier and their
recent experiences. It was a joy to watch them. To see them play, you would never imagine the
hardships they have been through. They
are incredibly resilient children.
The school agreed to let them
start straightaway even before the school fees are paid, so today the children
attended our school for the first time. The
eldest was tested as he said he had been to school in Bor. He performed very well and was placed in
Primary Four where he is the youngest child.
His younger sisters have never been to school before and were placed in the
nursery.
Now all that remains is for
Fulaa Lifeline (the home’s supporting charity) to find sponsors for these
children to pay for their living expenses.
