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When Mary’s husband died and violent conflict stole everything from her, Tearfund’s training helped her stand up again
‘Now, I am happy. I’m free from trauma and l enjoy good sleep and good health.’ These are the words of Mary from Kajo-Keji in South Sudan. But, her story has been unspeakably difficult. Mary is a mum of four-plus-one after taking in a fifth child who was orphaned. Some time ago, Mary’s husband died suddenly in a work accident, leaving her the sole provider and carer for the family. As if that wasn’t hard enough, soon after, violent attacks on her village forced Mary and her children to flee their home to save their lives.
‘I was very frightened,’ Mary says. ‘I was thinking about how to take care of my children.’The family found safety in a refugee camp in Uganda, but life there was extremely challenging. ‘My family didn’t have enough food,’ Mary explains. ‘Because of the immense pressure I was experiencing, I started having suicidal thoughts. I felt like dying.’
The local church in Kajo-Keji managed to reach Mary and her family with some food and counselling assistance, but they were too far away. Then, one of Mary’s children became very ill. ‘l had no one to help me,’ she says. ‘There was no money for treatment. Then, I became ill. My stomach was swollen, and I was unable to walk. I could only crawl. I received treatment, but It didn’t fully heal me.’
Feeling desperate, Mary decided to return home to Kajo-Keji. There, at least, she might be able to feed the family from her cassava plot. Fortunately, her cassava plot was doing surprisingly well, but everything else was gone. Mary’s livestock had been taken and her huts had been burnt down. She was reliant on the kindness of others to shelter her family. Then, one of her neighbours introduced Mary to a church nearby.
At the church, Mary says, ‘I heard about this organisation, Tearfund, that trains people in personal growth and development when they face difficult times. They started a
Transforming Communities programme and taught us about group savings and farming. So, I began to weave baskets from palm leaves and sell them for money to save with my group, which helped me to get a loan. ‘We were also taught about personal growth. Before, I lacked confidence, now I can express myself and I’ve developed leadership skills! When I‘m with my group, I feel happy and confident because I give positive advice to them. ‘Before, I used to shout at the children. Now, I’ve learned the right way to correct them. I stay calm.
‘Thanks to the training, I’m now independent. I identified one of the God-given resources around me as soil to make bricks. So, I took a small loan and hired people to lay bricks to construct my home. Then, I decided to lay bricks and fire them myself. I don’t depend on other people’s help anymore.
‘Because of the training, I also started farming. My family no longer faces hunger. And I was able to pay my children’s school fees.’ If you’d like to know more about this kind of work or find out how you can help families like Mary’s, please visit tearfund.org.
