Dry by morning: How Chol dug his way back to class

“I just want to study without disruptions,” Chol says.

Every year, like clockwork, the rain comes, and the water follows close behind. For most families living in Melut County, that's just the rhythm of life and for years, it meant something else too kids missing school.

Chol, a pupil in Primary four, knows that rhythm well. His family arrived in Melut in 2014, fleeing civil conflict that pushed them out of Piji Canal, Jonglei State. They found safety, but not relief from the water. 

“This area is usually flooded every year,” he says simply, the way you would describe the weather.

Back then, the only defense was sandbags heavy, awkward, and not always available. 

“We used to fill up sacks to make up dikes, but it's not easy to get,” Achol Wuor, Chol’s mother explains. 

When the rain is heavy, the floodwater could take two to three days to clear. Until it did, Chol often had to stay home to help his mother manage the water, the mess, the worry.

In 2025, through the Nexus Accelerated Fund (NAF), World Vision trained 15 Community-Based Disaster Risk Management members on Disaster risk reduction, resilience building and early warnings in South Sudan’s Melut County-Upper Nile State 

“The trenches help channel the water out, so I don't have to stay back to help mum”, Chol shares. 

Achol did not stop at solving her own problem. As a member of the CBDRM group, she's become a quiet teacher in her own neighborhood explaining to neighbors why flooding is not just a water problem. Standing water brings snakes and insects. 

“Some families here practice open defecation, which during floods spread disease fast. So, alongside trench-digging, we also share hygiene messages, to ensure safety after the water recedes,” shares Achol.

Story and photos by Scovia Charles, Communications Officer/World Vision South Sudan