Brother Christian Mbam Ndubisi, FMS, works at the camp for internally displaced persons in Riimenze, South Sudan. The camp of close to 7,000 people formed in January 2017 around the parish church in the wake of a violent attack on the village by armed forces.
“We afford the people a much needed presence. The IDPs feel secure because we are there,” Br. Christian wrote in a recent report for Solidarity with South Sudan. “I have given trauma healing to selected groups. As I move from ‘house to house,’ I listen to people, especially the elderly and the vulnerable as they recount their needs. Solidarity still provides much-needed food for the elderly and vulnerable.”
As of June 2019, the total number of people in the camps was around 5,000. Some have returned to their original plots of land and resumed farming. “The elderly and the vulnerable continue to live in the camp. And most of the children in the parish schools are residing in the camp, ” said Br. Christian. “Some families prefer to remain in closer proximity to other families for security.”
