From a gardener to an emergency responder: Helping my fellow South Sudanese is a humbling experience

By Elisa Joseph, Shelter and NFI Monitor

My life’s turning point was when I was promoted from a gardener and cleaner in World Vision’s former office in South Sudan on 2014 to Shelter and Non-Food Item (NFI) Monitor for the Mobile Team Emergency Response on 2016. Married to Margaret and now a father of four children, it was not just a tremendous break at work but a blessing that I can now provide for my family well.

From cleaning the garden and assisting in admin work, I am now in the frontline helping my suffering people, many fleeing from the ongoing conflict or returning as refugees from nearby countries like Sudan and Uganda. For me, this is a humbling experience because I am now serving people who have the same difficult experience like my family.

Dedication. Wading in Sobat River during the rainy season while doing the assessment work in Upper Nile State. The World Vision team eventually assisted over 16,000 people who fled from the fighting.

Just like millions of South Sudanese, my life growing up was not easy. My parents Christopher and Jane fled from South Sudan to Uganda during the height of the conflict many years ago and had to work in a sugarcane plantation to support us. I was barely few years old and the eldest of the four siblings.

We suffered a huge blow when my father got sick and died when I was only 12. My relatives made my mother leave after a quarrel over a piece of land my father bought. My siblings and I were left in the care of an aunt and we briefly stopped studying until my mother found work and got us all back. To support my other needs in school, I have to sell eggs on my free time.

Dreaming of peace for the children. Elisa found joy spending time with the children in Maiwut County in Upper Nile State during work break.

As a refugee in another country, I realized it was like having two countries where you do not really belong. I feel alienated when I was in Uganda because I do not know most people I got around with. When I went back to South Sudan, most of our relatives fled to different places.

That was when I valued the importance of being strong because it helps you endure whatever adversities that will come your way.

Despite all the challenges we went through, I was able to finish my 2-year accounting diploma in the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Uganda. After my graduation, we went back to South Sudan, I got married and finally found my way to World Vision’s humanitarian work. Working in an emergency response took me to remote areas and very dire situations in South Sudan. 

Persistence and commitment. Emergency work often posed a tough challenge for Elisa and team but he said it was a privilege serving his own suffering people.

I have seen thousands of fellow South Sudanese surviving in tough conditions. My most unforgettable moment was, while doing distribution work in Upper Nile State, I spent time with children of displaced families, singing songs and playing with them. I honestly believe I am privileged to be given the chance to help others.

My dream is to continue helping the disadvantaged in my country and be able to give my children the best education that I, and my siblings were deprived of. I also hope for the end of the conflict so the children of South Sudan will not suffer what my generation had to.

Serving his countrymen. Food and non-food distribution in Upper Nile State for 16,000 people in urgent need of assistance.