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Refugees International recently returned from southern Sudan where we found that people were returning from exile to villages which are severely lacking in basic services to accommodate the numbers of returnees. In the state of Northern Bahr El Ghazal we spoke with people who had lived for decades in north Sudan and in Darfur, who were motivated to return to the south once they heard that their home areas were peaceful. They were now struggling to survive in villages without adequate access to drinking water, health services, education, food and shelter. We met with community groups who explained the difficulties they were facing, and the support they needed to enable them to reconstruct their villages and to assist with the reconciliation process.

Not Enough Drinking Water: With the return of so many displaced people to villages in south Sudan, limited resources are now stretched beyond their limits. Lack of drinking water is the number one problem. Even when there are water boreholes they are often not maintained. "Classrooms" Under a Tree: These schooling conditions are difficult during the dry season, but impossible during the rainy season. We spoke with communities who received school materials that were ruined during the rainy season because they had nowhere to protect it from the rains. Moving From Food Aid to Food Security: The UN World Food Program has been providing three-month food rations to people returning to south Sudan. This is much-needed assistance to help people get back onto their feet, but they also need seeds and tools in order to become self-sufficient. Women Show Their Determination to Rebuild: These women were showing us bricks they made by hand, in an attempt to construct a center to receive new returnees. There are many women’s groups showing great initiative and willing to support returnees, but they rarely receive the support they need. “Our Women’s Center Will Collapse if We Don’t Get a Roof”: These women are standing by the women’s center they constructed during the dry season. They lack the materials for permanent roofing. If they don’t it, the center will collapse when the rainy season begins, and all their hard work will have gone to waste.