Mennonite Central Committee

Santina's Story

Rob Haarsager
November 2007

In 1990, Santina Siama was working as a teacher and living in the town of Yambio, in southwest Sudan near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic (CAR). Though Yambio was her home area, Santina had spent many years living in other cities while getting her education and starting a family. The civil war had started seven years earlier, but Yambio – a key town in that part of Sudan – up to that time had not been affected by the fighting.

But all that changed later that year when news of an impending attack on the town by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) reached the residents of Yambio, and many of the residents of the town fled to CAR for safety. Though the people of Yambio were generally sympathetic to the rebel cause, they did not want to be caught in the middle of a crossfire between government and rebel troops nor face possible recriminations once the fighting was over. So Santina left with her three young children, while her husband left in a different direction, never to be heard from again.

The years as a refugee were difficult. Santina and her children were accepted as refugees by UNHCR (the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and given some assistance such as some shelter and food. Eventually, schools were started and for several years she worked as a teacher. Though the SPLA took control of Yambio the year she left, it was still a war zone, with much of the town destroyed. It wouldn’t be until a few years later that Yambio began to revive, though it was still under constant threat of bombardment by the government air force.

In 2000 Santina faced another, more personal crisis when she began losing her eyesight. The diagnosis was diabetes, which was difficult for her to control under the conditions she was living in. Soon she was no longer able to work as a teacher and it became much more difficult for her to provide for her family.

In January 2005 there was great news for Santina and several hundred thousand other Sudanese living as refugees in countries bordering Sudan – peace was signed! The Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended 21 years of fighting. A new, semi-autonomous government of southern Sudan would be formed and in six years citizens would have the opportunity to vote for independence.

Though filled with hope for her future, Santina also had many concerns about when the right time was to return. The management of the refugee camp began to say that everyone should leave. They even reduced food rations and eventually closed schools, but they did not offer a way for people to return. Those who did return paid their own way, or walked, and Santina was not able to do either.

There were also questions of where to go, where would she stay? She knew that her late father had a house in Juba and that there may be relatives there that she could stay with. But Juba was very far, and she had no money, so she continued to stay in CAR.

Finally, two years after the signing of the CPA, UNHCR announced a program to assist refugees with transportation back to Sudan. Santina and her daughter signed up and in January 2007 they boarded a plane that would take them to Juba. After having been a refugee for 17 years, Santina was finally going home.

Upon arrival in Juba she found her way back to her paternal home, in the Kator neighborhood of Juba. She found her uncle living there, along with other relatives. She was warmly welcomed home. UNHCR provided her with a three month supply of food, which she shared with her host family.

Santina is very glad that she is back in Sudan but the concern over how to provide for her daily needs weighs heavily. She visited the eye clinic in Juba and found that her only real hope for improvement would be to have surgery, something she can’t afford. Santina is a survivor and continues to have hope, both for her own future and that of her homeland.

For information about how to help people like Santina, visit the website of Christian Blind Mission.

Rob Haarsager has served with MCC Sudan for three different terms and is currently the MCC Sudan Country Representative.