Rachel telling her story
In 2021, extreme floods displaced an estimated 386,000 people in South Sudan. Some of these Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were resettled by the government in a town near one of our project leaders, Rhoda. “We heard the outcry from the IDP women,” says Rhoda, “They had virtually no way of making money and were using a traditional mortar to grind their food.” Many of the women were living on rations provided by relief organizations, eating only one meal a day and sometimes not at all. Women were unable to pay for their children’s school fees and many were dying because of the lack of funds for necessary medications. Something needed to be done.
With input from the women, Rhoda came up with a solution that would not only feed their families, but provide them with an opportunity to make a sustainable income. So Rhoda applied for a grain grinding mill project. She teaches the women how to use the mill so that they can grind their food more efficiently. In addition, she provides microloans so that the women can start their own small businesses, grinding food for others and taking surpluses to the markets in the cities.
Though the project started with 25 women, five hundred women have benefited in one year from the mill! One woman, Rachel, expresses her gratitude, “My heart is bursting with joy of rising hope again, out from the depression of poverty. My whole family is eating two meals a day, my 7 children are now going to school, and I am able to pay medication fees for myself and my children.”
Thank you for supporting projects like these in South Sudan.
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