Grace: Struggling in the City, Stuck in the City
Formerly a social worker, a South Sudanese woman struggles to earn a living on her own in Kampala and worries about educating her kids.
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1
Home: Western Equatoria, South Sudan
I was a social worker in South Sudan since 2004. I worked with children who had been separated from their parents during attacks in the war, and many of them had mental issues and trauma. The children would stay at the Center for a month before we could reunite them with their parents or closest family.
It was a good job. I made 1,500 South Sudanese pounds ($11.52 now, but worth much more then) per month, but then the government stopped paying salaries for six or seven months. And then the war came.
2
Juba, South Sudan
My brother lived in Juba at the time and he sent money for me to leave with the children [Western Equatoria] to Juba. He sent the money by Eden Bank [a South Sudanese bank], and then we stayed with my brother for seven days in Juba.
3
Kampala, Uganda
I went on to Kampala alone and left [the five] children to stay with their uncle in Juba. I had an older sister who lived in Kampala. I met a member of the South Sudanese Red Cross on my way from Juba, and she paid for my bus tickets and visa to Uganda.
4
Batata, Uganda
I lived with my sister in Batata [near Freedom City] for almost a year, and after three months, my children arrived from South Sudan, so we were squeezed. Their uncle in South Sudan paid for them to take a bus from Juba to Kampala.
After a few months, we were too squeezed in my sister’s home, so we moved here [to Masaya] to be closer to the Church. My sister has an older daughter who lives in Juba. She works for World Food Programme and sends money to my sister in Kampala when she can. It’s not enough for rent, though, maybe food, but it’s enough to help. The daughter sends it by mobile money.
Rent is 400,000 shillings ($108.51) per month, and I have no job in Kampala. I have one friend in Juba who would send money via mobile money to me once every two months to help with rent. She would usually send about $100, maybe with $20 or $30 on top to help with food or school fees. Bishop Munde would help, too, but he has been dead since November, and the new bishop does not arrive until later this month. The hardest time in Uganda is right now. When there is no money, they cut our water and electricity, so we have to drink from the stream. We have been drinking from the stream and without food for two weeks now.
I tried to go to Biyale [camp] earlier this year, but the camp has been closed since last year. I want to register the children in a camp so they can receive primary school, but the transport money for all of us is too much. It would be 30,000 UGX ($8.14) per person for us to [take a] bus to Bidi Bidi [the closest open camp], and there are six of us. So, for now, I am stuck.