South Sudan is under a state of emergency due to the Corona pandemic. The official infection figures are low so far. But the effects of the pandemic go much further, threatening the financial basis of many people. Few people have money to stockpile food or buy a bottle of disinfectant. Food prices have soared, and many are malnourished and and struggling to make ends meet from day to day. "The price of a jerry can of drinking water has doubled in three days," says Simon Ochedi with concern.
Where to go when you don't have a home?
The government has closed all schools and told people to stay at home. "But where should children go who have no home at all?" asks Simon Ochedi. The Muhaba center therefore remains open, but there are temporarily no classes for those children who live outside the center. This hits the girls especially hard:
"The girls who can't stay with us because we don't have a building for them yet, unfortunately couldn't come at all," regrets Simon Ochedi. In total, the children's center cares for 43 boys and girls. The Corona pandemic has had a massive impact on the physical and mental health of the children and young people who have already been affected. Simon Ochedi describes it as a "material hardship, but also a spiritual one." But the director of the children's center is not giving up and is fighting for the well-being of his charges.
â–º Read report by Simon Ochedi
