From DR Congo to South Sudan, this single mother of nine endured the odds for her children

“I carried some of my children on my back and some luggage on my head. My uncle helped me carry the rest of them”, says Marie. You can only imagine what a mother can endure for her children’s sake.

Back in 2008, 42-year old Marie Ferete walked for three days from her village in Duru in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to seek refuge in Makpandu Refugee Camp in neighboring Western Equatoria State in South Sudan.

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When the armed group stormed into their village, they turned what was once a peaceful place into a nightmare for Marie’s family. She laments, “We became strangers in our place as we spent most of our days hiding in the bush until we finally decided to leave for good”, she adds.

Before they were able to leave, Marie’s husband got abducted by the armed group but was fortunate to have escaped and joined them in the camp.

Marie’s eldest son Pierre is proud of how their mother protected them. Pierre says, “We walked for three days without food and water. But we survived because she did her best to keep us going.” Pierre was then nine years old and grew up in the camp. He is now 21.

Marie was relieved when her husband joined them at the camp, but he eventually left them to go back to DRC. “He left me to take care of our nine children”, says Marie. Without a choice, Marie tried to find means to feed her children, send them to school and raise them to the best she can.

I became World Vision’s community mobilizer and used my incentive allowance for my children’s school materials and food. I made sure they eat well.

In her free time, Marie raises vegetables from her garden to augment her income. She also receives food assistance provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) through World Vision.

Orach Godfrey Otobi World Vision’s Project Manager says, “Apart from the food support, her family and the rest of the refugees are also assisted with seeds, tools, training on agricultural production and marketing.”

It has been 12 years since Marie and her family moved to Makpandu. She cannot think of going back home. “Our homes were gone. I heard the armed groups are still causing trouble.  I am not even sure if my children can go to school if we did not leave,” she adds.

World Vision trains women on income-generating activities and has organized them into 10 village savings and loan associations with 40 members each. Each member contributes to SSP500 (USD1.5) per week. With funding from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), World Vision Korea and World Vision New Zealand, the project supports 5,131 refugees, 52 percent of them are children.

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Story and photos by Scovia Faida Charles Duku, Communications Officer