IPDs face food shortages in Nzara of Western Equatoria

December 8, 2009 (NZARA) — Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have been displaced by LRA rebels from Northern Uganda are confronting food shortages and inaccessible public services in their self-identified centers. At the same time they are under growing pressure to fetch food in their villages, even though they lack necessary security to return to their native villages.

This warning was issued recently by Area chief of Sakure Payam, Sultan Tartisio James Banzimi. It comes at a time when the Ugandan Army in the region is stepping up efforts to give protection twice a week to villagers who wish to go back in search of local food.

“My People displaced are benefiting very little from current intervention by government to distribute grains,” said Sultan Tartisio.

He adds that, “during the war civilians were central in contributing food to the soldiers, but why are not being protected during the end result the CPA? [We] feel unprotected.”

The Area Chief is urging the government and relief agencies to focus more on the needs of the IDPs as they begin the task of settling far from their fertile villages, which have been devastated by the long and brutal rebellion of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

He urges that, “there is no good father who can abandon his children during the time of crisis, otherwise we feel like the government is not thinking of us.”

Thousands of IDPs in Western Equatoria are thought to live randomly in towns. Many are direct casualties of the LRA atrocities, like those who were maimed by LRA fighters or wounded by machetes. But overcrowding in the IDP camps has also led to outbreaks of tropical diseases, which has in turn triggered diarrhea and malnutrition in children.

Many of the 600 inhabitants of that center are also running low on food. Eunice Saeda, a visually-impaired woman who cares for seven grandchildren, received one ratio of maize during the month July to feed her family, and even that was delivered two months late. She depends on the generosity of other IDPs to keep her grandchildren from starving.

But many IDPs like Ms Saeda, who is elderly and has many dependents, lack the hope of getting food. Since her big brother died in the hands of LRA rebels, Ms Saeda has had no adult relative at her side. It takes several months for abandoned farms to produce food, and many IPDs are unsure whether they will even enjoy their land on return.

Jonathan Sambia Mazimbi was displaced from Buremanga villages, he tells me that, “it is difficult to go his home at the villages in fear of meeting LRA rebels there, as about ten people lost their lives recently while they had gone to search for food.”

Mrs. Esther Luka echoes the same deplorable conditions of many IDPs, “my kids are getting thin and thinner by every hour, and they no longer enjoy the natural grapes in the forests which use to feed on before evening dinner.”

Meanwhile, situation of the IDPs in a nearby Nzara centre has been further worsened due to lack of transit camps. They have no proper shelter as most of the IDPs are staying under tree shades and damaged tarps.

However, conditions facing many IDPs have not allowed them to become self-reliant again, and there are reports that IDP figures have been underestimated, particularly in Yambio and Nzara counties. In any event, IDP numbers alone do not reflect the total number of people who will require assistance to become self-reliant again.

The scale and geographic spread of the displacement, the fact that up to 90 per cent of internally displaced people (IDPs) seek shelter with host families is depicting negative impact on the local economy.

The return to normal life for the IDPs is far from ending soon as Joseph Kony and his notorious men remain at large in the bushes of Central African Republic, while using southern Sudan as a hub for looting food items.

COMBONI NUNS USHER HOPE TO LRA VICTIMS IN AROUND NZARA

Speaking to Enough Project LRA Field Researcher, Sister Giovanna is angry. “Why are they doing these things, killing and raping?” she asks, referring to rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army, who have recently been wreaking havoc in South Sudan. Based in Nzara, in the Western Equatoria State of South Sudan, the sister from the Comboni Catholic order has been helping victims of LRA attacks for the past few years. She immediately agrees to come with me to talk to Betty, the wife of a LRA commander who has just come out of the bush. “Is she taller than me?” Sister Giovanna asks while trying to find a dress for the former LRA. “I feel really bad for these people, who are victims themselves,” she adds.

Sister Giovanna understands well the intricacies of the LRA conflict, having spent more than 13 years in Gulu, Northern Uganda, before moving to South Sudan four years ago. On our way to meet Betty, Sister Giovanna tells me about people who have been with the LRA. “They are changed forever,” she says, and then adds, “That man (LRA leader Joseph) Kony needs to be captured. He needs to be stopped from causing all this suffering.” Upon meeting Betty, Sister Giovanna hugs her for a long time talking to her softly in Acholi.

The Catholic nuns in Nzara are frequently the only hope for people who have been victims of LRA attacks. Congolese refugees, Sudanese displaced by the attacks, and a great number of orphans and poor children find comfort at the Comboni residence where the nuns share the work.

Sister Giovanna organizes the delivery of food. “We usually try to give out as much food as possible to as many people we can,” she says. One sister teaches in the local primary school; another is a medic at the local hospital. The sisters rely mostly on private donations.

(ST)