Telling the ECSA Story

Amach Elizabeth is a 28-year-old mother of two children; (4 months and 8 years old daughter) and a resident of Any Idi village in Bor.  Growing up with her siblings, Elizabeth says life was tranquil, since her parents were supportive, they endeavored to give them the opportunity to study in schools of their choice. However, during South Sudan conflict with the North, Elizabeth and her family were forced to flee their home in Bor in 2001 and they resettled in Yei IDP where she completed her senior four at St. Joseph’s Secondary School in 2014. All was well until Mary lost her parents and the support for her education ended since her relatives had limited resources to further her education. This led to Mary’s eventual dropping-out of school. “My real challenges started when I lost both of my parents and elder brother. My father died in 2011, elder brother in 2013 and mother in 2015.” explains teary Amach. Despite her challenges, Elizabeth progressed against odds. With support from h

  Nyanyang with her daughter Nyanyang Marial is a 25 year old mother of two children. She used to reside in a PoC in Bentiu. In 2018, she returned to Koch when the country got some peace and she settled in Bhang village. Like many vulnerable community members, Nyanyang struggles to take care of her children and depends on her mother and brother for support. “I used to depend on my brother and mother. Both could provide me with financial support but the support couldn’t even sustain the children. It was not easy whenever my children fell sick. I could find it difficult to seek medical care beyond what the government is able to offer. We could only afford one meal in a day. I couldn’t even think of the luxury of clothes or nutritious meal,” she said. Nyanyang is physically challenged but that is not a barrier for her to work. Out of the little money she got as support, Nyayang joined a group of women to jointly start a business of buying and retailing of dry fish in Bhang during th

T o many it’s just a box but for Nyamal and many other women in Koch and South Sudan, it holds the key to their economic success and empowerment. “ I feel really overjoyed to have benefited from the first cycle. This is unbelievable to have received 40,000 SSP worth 100 USD of my savings just in the first circle.” says a mesmerized 38-year-old Nyamal. This is a key milestone for Nyamal. With her proceeds, she was able to buy for herself and children a cow. Her success attracted two more women to join the savings group which filled the gap that was earlier created by the former group members of the first cycle. With the VSLA saving methodology introduced by CARE International, Nyamal is a testament to the change in lifestyle of participants. “If it hadn’t been for this savings group, I would have extravagantly squandered my dividends daily without putting it into proper use. When I bought the cow, this motivated my neighbors. They recently asked me to convince the other VSLA group m

Awiel Jok in her shop Awiel Jok Mag ot, 27, is a mother of three children; aged 5, 3, and 2 years old sons. She runs a small-scale business in Hai Machuwar Market, in Bor County. Awiel dropped out of school in primary seven, and she decided to get married in 2015 due to peer influence. Unfortunately, her marriage life was short lived as she lost her husband last year. The lack of support from her in-law’s side forced Awiel to leave her matrimonial home and return to her parent’s house. Together with her children Awiel lives in her parent’s house with six other siblings. “I moved to my father’s house after my husband died due to long illness in 2020.” she says. With nowhere to run to, her father was the only hope. While at the parent’s house, Awiel got all the support she needed. First, she was introduced to a small business of selling chewing gum to generate some income, she started with just two packets of chewing gum. With the proceeds from the chewing gum, she bought powdered man

Rhoda is a 32-year-old mother of four children. She stays in Rier village located in Koch County with her four children (2 boys and 2 girls) and her elderly husband in his 70’s and other relatives. Due to his advancing age, Rhoda’s husband is unable to cater for his family. As a result, Rhoda bears the burden of supporting the family solely. “I started my tea business with distress after failing to find answers to my family needs.” she said. “My children need clothes, school fees, food and other needs and my husband is now 70 and he hasn’t been able to feed the family for the last 10 years, it has always been me struggling.” Amidst difficulty of raising capital to start her tea business, Rhoda convinced the husband to let her sell off their only cow which he agreed to. In 2016 during the South Sudan crisis, Rhoda started her business with a capital of 25,000 SSP which she made from the cow sale. She used the money to buy utensils such as a kettle, cups, tables, sugar, and food for th

Simanjiro district is one of the very dry areas in Manyara region with unreliable source of water and long-term dry seasons because of climate change effects. As the changes continue, it is critical for stakeholders to improve their management of climate variability, change and uncertainties to be able to develop approaches for resilient livelihoods adaptation. Stakeholders need to access climate information and gain the knowledge for informed decisions while in planning processes.  CARE International in Tanzania is implementing Our Land Program II, which aims at addressing climate change issues with a focus on building local community’s capacity and systems to support resilience and adaptation in Olchoronyori, Korongo and Magadini villages. This is done through Participatory Scenario Planning (PSP), a mechanism for collective sharing and interpretation of seasonal modern climate forecasts provided by Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA). PSP brings together meteorologists, Governm

On the anniversary of World Food Day which is observed every year on October 16 th , the world should celebrate resilient communities in South Sudan that continue to fight to survive amidst the impact of climate change, violence and displacement that disrupts livelihoods and the key driver for food insecurity.  Food is a basic human right which means everybody is entitled to enjoy the right to food however many can’t.   Across the globe, and South Sudan in particular hunger is one of the most significant causes of Malnutrition related death exacerbated every year due to the shortage of food as many vulnerable people can’t afford even a single square meal per day and women and children continue to bear the brunt. According to integrated phase classification (IPC)analysis released in October 2020 estimated 6.35 million people (52.6% of the population) to face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse acute food insecurity, of whi ch 2.102 million people faced Emergency (IPC Phase 4) acute food i

Zawadi Maransi  lives in Goma, North Kivu Province in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with her husband and their two children. She has   been active in the Mawe Tatu (II) project since 2019, participating in a VSLA group, partaking in entrepreneurship trainings, and even eventually starting her own successful soap-making business. Zawadi Maransi BEFORE MAWE TATU Before her soap business was up and running, Zawadi was not able to find a way to consistently contribute to meeting household needs for her family. Her family was surviving 100% on the money her husband received from his work, and even then, it was only a means to get from day to day – it was not a long term solution or sufficient, not even fully covering a month’s needs. Borrowing money was a frequent option, but that only further complicated   her family’s   financial situation.   “We could borrow from where we normally buy goods in the neighborhood…[but] I knew at the end of the month, I will have money an

  Mary Athou, 45 “Agriculture is one of the ways to empower women at the grassroots level because it does not need one to write but dig with the skills they acquire from different organizations,”  says Mary Athou, 45. Her words may sound simple but are powerful and carry a lot of weight.   This words come from a place of disappointment due to gender inequality that is triggered by cultural norms. This gender inequality has for years deprived girls and women of their right to attain an education making women lag. The mother of five, who is the bread winner of her family, depends purely on agriculture as her source of income. Mary in her farm She recalls that during her childhood, growing up was not easy. “As a woman in my community, we had limited opportunities which made life quite challenging but am glad that a lot has changed today because Organizations like CARE are here, not only to provide help, but build resilience and make us self-reliant.” she says. Mary is a FEED II participan

Nyakoang Khan, 45 Nyakoang Khan, 45 –mother of five (3 boys and 2 girls) is a resident of Bhang, one of the villages in Koch –Unity State. Nyakoang lost her husband in Bentiu in 2013 during the South Sudan crisis between the government and opposition. As a widow and bread winner, Nyakoang used to walk miles in search of firewood to sell during the dry season and she would also cut grass to take to the market and buy food for her family. Out of her little earnings, she saved up to pay fees for her four children who are currently in school. “Life hasn’t been easy since my husband was killed in the Bentiu conflict in 2013. Everything was destroyed by the war. I used to walk to the bush to collect firewood and sell it so that I can be able to buy food for my children. I also cut grass for thatching huts to support my children.” Koch, where Nyakoang stays, has suffered the impact of the 2013 conflict, coupled with displacements and floods which has significantly affected livelihoods hen

Anneta Ayuru Aliga, 52 years old, is a widow, and mother of six children. Anneta takes care of her seven grandchildren in Mugali Payam located in Eastern Equatorial. Annetta was in the refugee camp in Uganda but returned to her village in 2009 and thereafter in 2010 lost her husband leaving her a huge responsibility of taking care of their grandchildren single handedly. “ The toughest time in my life was when my husband died, leaving me with seven orphaned grandchildren. My day starts with preparing breakfast, followed by fetching water, cooking, bathing the children then attend to my income generating activities like fetching firewood and burning charcoal, and during the dry season my main source of income is cutting grass for sale .” Annetta says as she explains her typical day. Anneta in her farm  Besides being a farmer, Anneta completed senior three and acquired skills in sewing table clothes and bed sheets from Juba and Gulu Uganda. Her skill set earned her a job as a Hygiene