The Day My Parents Were Sent Away From the Village
One night in 2014, my family and I were sleeping in our hut. My parents quarreled between themselves, woke up early the next morning and went to work. I slept late into the morning and around 8 a.m., my mother got worried so she came inside the house and asked me why I slept until that time. I told her my body was just weak and it was a sign that something was going to happen to our family. We remained home all afternoon just to be safe, but in the evening hours, a terrible and painful thing happened between my brother and his friends.
His friends came to our home and invited my brother to go drinking with them. He accepted their invitation and soon all of them became drunk and started to argue about every little thing and it quickly turned into a big quarrel. All of my brother’s friends turned away and abandoned him.
The conflict continued mostly between my brother and one of his friends. The friend began to chase my brother with the intention to kill him and so my brother hid. In the process of trying to get away and hide, my brother threw a spear at his friend and killed him. That was when people began searching for my brother and family, with the plan to kill us all. Our neighbors heard about what was happening and felt compassion towards us. They warned us of what was about to happen, giving my mom time to gather us and flee to my grandmother’s home. From there, we continued our journey and spent a terrifying night in the bush, but through God’s love and protection, we slept well.
After wandering through the bush, we made it to the road where a driver felt pity on us and helped us. He drove us to our destination, where we finally felt safe. Eventually, my aunt took us into her home and my brother and I began going to school. With the help of Mercy Beyond Borders, I began attending St. Bakhita Girls Primary School. I think it was God’s plan that this problem happened the way it did and that now I could go to school. While I was at school, the family members of the boy who died demanded to be paid restitution. Our family gave them everything– our cows, our home, our clothes. After this, my brother was still killed by his friends. My parents did not receive any restitution and didn’t even ask for anything. Despite my parents’ best efforts to mend the situation, my brother’s friends killed him.
Now that I am in school, I work very, very hard with my studies so I can complete my education and take my knowledge to the people of my village so that they can send their girls and boys to school. Right now, my village has very low school enrollment.
I am so grateful to Mercy Beyond Borders for my scholarship, for taking care of us by paying our school fees, and providing for our needs.
Mercy Beyond Borders is showing the way for many people, especially the South Sudanese girls. I really appreciate MBB so much for their support.
Staff Update: Written in 2019 as a Mercy Beyond Borders high school Scholar, she is now (2025) attending university, studying public health, and will graduate this year.
Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter to learn more about the challenges and triumphs of women and girls living in extreme poverty in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi & Haiti.
