Hanna Dijok

4th Annual Christmas Celebration -- Internally Displaced Orphans in South Sudan

Do you believe in giving to the less fortunate? Do you agree that no one should suffer from lack of safe drinking water, food, shelter and medical care?  If your answer is yes, then you can help bring a smile to many children who are living in some of the worst conditions you can’t imagine—the orphans in South Sudan. With your help, this Christmas season we will bring joy to children who were orphaned as a result of the genocide that took place in South Sudan. 

Genocide is horrible, yet on December 15, 2013, it became a reality for many helpless South Sudanese citizens. The genocide was a military activity ordered by South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir Mayardit. Kiir and his trained militias from his home state of Warrap planned and carried out the hate-filled massacre of civilians and the systematic extermination of select ethnic groups, particularly the Nuer tribe. 

In the following days, government tanks flattened homes brutally crushing entire families inside. Tens of thousands ran for safety to the United Nations headquarters, but many civilians never made it to safety and were killed on the streets. Many more were rounded up, arrested  and taken to slaughterhouses the government had set up around the city– and the massacre didn’t stop there! Militias continued their extermination by going from house to house, killing anyone they came across who spoke the Nuer word “male,” which means “hello.” Hundreds of thousands perished because of that one peaceful word. The massacre continued for weeks, months and years, and the whole country was in chaos. Millions were forced from their homes, and villages were burned to the ground. President Salva Kiir and his regime used tactics of intimidation by murdering religious leaders, reporters and anyone who tried to fight against inhumanity, injustice and the dictatorship. Aid workers were banned from transporting aid to the civilians. 

The world has turned a blind eye on the people of South Sudan. Now the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan has started withdrawing its troops and police from the civilian protection camps, leaving 1.87 million internally displaced in South Sudan. 

There are currently 4.3 million displaced people from South Sudan, including refugees, IDPs, and asylum-seekers, according to UNHCR, and over half (63%) of all south Sudanese refugees are children. Over 1.6 million are in the neighbouring countries, Uganda and Sudan each host over 800,000 refugees from South Sudan, Ethiopia hosts more than 400,000 refugees the rest are in Kenya and the Congo. 

As a result, in 2018, I initiated an Orphans Christmas Funday. For the last three years, the number of children who participated in that program has reached 300 children.

THE IMPACT OF OUR RESPONSE
  • Addressing happiness, and personal growth of the children.
  • Visiting and encouraging them especially during Christmas prevents them from adverse effects on mental and physical health, productivity, and self-esteem .
  • Showing them love by gifting them will promote equality and self-fulfilment and accelerate the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Addressing mental health has intrinsic and instrumental value and is integral to their well-being.
  • The Children will get love and affection as if their parents provide.
  • Their confidence level will increase & become a good asset to the community.

Project Objectives

  • To provide orphans with love that they never experienced and help them to become useful members of the society.
  • To encourage the orphans to kindle their potential by providing creative opportunities
  • To accomplish physical, intellectual and aesthetic development of the child.
  • To develop children’s social skills.
  • To give them hope like other children
  • To treat trauma and sad life
  • To make them good citizens
THE SOLUTION

The purpose of this program when I started it in 2018, is to encourage children who do not have parents to celebrate Christmas and feel loved like those who have parents.

For the last three years we have supported 200 children every year. These kids were able to celebrate Christmas like other children.

Children who do not have parents are missing the love of the parents and care they need. At the moment there are around 400 orphans in UN Protection sites in Juba alone, we want to reach out to those who are not involved yet. Therefore, it is our hope that South Sudan will be free of conflict and one day no child will know the horrors of armed violence. Every child deserves to live life to its fullest.

OUR BENEFICIARIES

Orphan Children who live in refugee camps.

INDICATORS OF CHANGE
  • Increase in the number of children who have benefitted from the program, and are able to unhook themselves from the vulnerabilities.
  • Increase in the number of children with improved health conditions and basic need
  • Increase in the number of children showing love to one another and accepting themselves
  • Increase in the number of children recovered from mental illnesses through collective therapies.
WHAT WE NEED

We have a number of challenges that are facing the program including lack of enough resources. This program is dependent on a small fund I raised every Christmas eve as Personal effort since there are no stakeholders who take it upon themselves to take care of those children. Lack of scholarship opportunities for orphans, and lack of housing or Orphanage.

 

Below are the pictures of the orphans, and how they celebrate the memorial during Christmas time. They described the genocide in a painful way, and how their parents were killed and burned their houses.

FUNDS:

To help, I’m collecting funds for food, school supplies, toys and sports equipment as Christmas gifts for 300 orphans living under the UN protection sites in Juba (South Sudan). Please help us do the right thing by helping these children experience the Magic of Christmas. Help us bring a little joy to their sad world.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Respectfully

Amb. Hanna Andrew K. Dijok

Email: nyapan2@gmail.com

Phone:1+202-446-7503

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