Southern Sudan is beginning to recover from a long civil war that ended in 2005. Many people are returning after years as refugees. Communities such as this neighborhood of Juba, southern Sudan’s capital, are growing rapidly. 

Southern Sudanese flags fly near the grave of former vice president John Garang in Juba. Garang died in 2005 after concluding peace negotiations that ended the civil war. 

Gloria Poni lifts a jug of water from a well in Juba. MCC supports a Sudanese church organization, CEAS, in drilling wells and providing other services for southern Sudanese communities. 

Children exercise on the grounds of St. Josephine Bakhita Basic Education School in Juba. The school remained open throughout the war and is now overcrowded with new and returning students. 

Esbela Jorong, left, is a student at St. Josephine Bakhita Basic Education School. 

Students talk in a classroom after-hours at St. Josephine Bakhita Basic Education School. 

Isaac Taban, left, and James Kenyi play soccer in front of a new classroom under construction at St. Josephine Bakhita Basic Education School. MCC is helping to build three classrooms to help the school accommodate a growing number of students. 

Catherine Matthew recently moved home to Juba from Khartoum, Sudan’s capital. She gave birth to her daughter, Rofina, one day before reaching Juba on a river barge. 

Catherine, her daughter, and her husband, Rafael Richard, moved in with Rafael’s cousin upon arriving in Juba. Pictured are Rafael and his cousin, Mary Martin. 

Rosa Awut returned to her home village, Wulu, with her children after living in another town during the war. “It is peace that brought us back to this place,” she says. 

Makul Marial tends cattle near the town of Rumbek, southern Sudan. Raising cattle is a traditional way of life for people of southern Sudan’s Dinka ethnic group. 

The Holy Family Catholic Church choir sings in Rumbek, Sudan.