Hope in the amidst of hopeless situation

“I have experienced and can witness the evils of civil war from my childhood time to now for our country has gone through war for a long period of time. But to be a refugee in life, I have never ever thought of it for a single minute in life. As a matter of bad luck, I am now in that life,” sadly recalls the 17 years old Vya Jima.

Vya along with her family were displaced and joined Kule Refugee Camp in Ethiopia in June, 2014. She was in grade 3 when the civil war broke out in South Sudan. She says, “Everything was going smoothly before the civil war broke out. We were attending school happily. However, with the speed of light, the war broke out in unexpected time and put us in a place that we have never dreamed of in life.”

The war has eaten up everything of Vya’s family: the house, the asset and the like. Crossing the border to Ethiopia was not an easy task for Vya and the rest of refugees.

Recalling that situation, she says, “There was no direction that you couldn’t hear the sound of bullet. People were hit by the bullet and dying on the way. We had to sometimes stop, some other times run and hid under a tree and a cliff to protect our life from unexpected shoot. It was really a miserable experience for me as a child. But thanks to God, no bullet has harmed me and my family all the way to Ethiopia. God has shielded us from the shadow of death. We safely arrived to Kule Refugee Camp, Ethiopia,” sadly recalls Vya.

Vya loves school and a good performing student. One of her worry during the displacement was that she would miss her school and loss her dream of becoming a social science teacher. She says, “I like school very much. When the war displaced us, my hope of schooling was eroded away. I was desperate.”

 “It was beyond my expectation when I see schools around. My hope has resurrected again. I reassured to myself that I will beat my dream of becoming a social science teacher sometime in the future,” says Vya.

But to her surprise, her fear did not come true. World Vision and other non- governmental organizations have built schools in Kule Refugee Camp already. She joined the school two months after her arrival. “It was beyond my expectation when I see schools around. My hope has resurrected again. I reassured to myself that I will beat my dream of becoming a social science teacher sometime in the future,” she gladly explains.

Vya Jima and the rest of her classmates attending their education at WV constructed school.

There was no upper primary school (Grade 5-8) in Kule Refugee Camp. As a result of this, there was a big fear in the mind of the students that they will quit school after completing level one. In response to this, World Vision has built two upper primary school in the amidst of Kule Refugee Camp. More than 5,000 children are now attending at these schools in two shifts right now.

“I was a little bit worried of what will happen to my education after completing my primary school. Thanks to World Vision now, it has constructed upper primary school and equipped them all with the necessary educational materials,” Vya happily explains.

In collaboration with other non-governmental organization, World Vision has also brought clean water to both upper primary schools. The children are now accessing clean water without any challenge.

She says, “Given the harsh and hot weather condition of the area, it would have been the worst challenge for us to resist the thirsty of clean water problem and attend school had World Vision not brought water to our school. I can say that World Vision is giving hope to hopeless people especially children like me at a scenario where you cannot see any promising things ahead of you. I am deeply grateful to world Vision for its trustworthy and visible works.”