Sudan Covenant provides relief supplies to IDPs

The Evangelical Covenant Church of Sudan (ECCS) recently provided emergency relief supplies to 27 vulnerable families representing 508 people who are living in camps of internally displaced peoples (IDPs) in Sudan. With a grant from Covenant World Relief (CWR), the ECCS was able to provide each family with a bag of corn, a gallon of oil, some sugar and milk, tents, bed sheets and chlorine tablets for drinking water. These IDPs were located in Malakal, Upper Nile State, and in Bor, Jonglei State.  You can see the regions pointed out on the map below:

Location of IDP Camps

The IDPs are Southern Sudanese who returned from living in the North over a period of time. They returned both to vote in the referendum in early January and out of fear of reprisals against the southerners by northerners.

IDP Relief Food Distribution

While the government of South Sudan has worked to facilitate the return of southerners, they have not done anything to help care for them once they arrived. Thus, upon arrival in the South they have ended up living in the open air, sometimes in soccer stadiums and military training centers. Without question they are lacking the most basic necessities of life.

The ECCS has a heart of compassion and upon learning of these situations sent an assessment team to the area. The assessment team of Pastor Matthew Jock Moses and Peter Puot Ruach visited the IDPs in Malakal and Bor respectively and submitted a proposal for a relief project to the ECCS administration. ECCS President Abraham Tuach in turn submitted the relief proposal to CWR who funded it. James Tang, Covenant missionary to Sudan based in Nairobi, advises the ECCS with the projects.

Pouring oil for relief food distribution

The targeted IDPs, the Commissioner of Malakal County, the Mayor of Bor and community elders thank God for the help CWR and the Covenant sent through the ECCS. For our part, we are grateful to work alongside fellow Covenanters in Sudan and the US & Canada who have a heart of compassion for the poor, vulnerable and oppressed. It is a joy to work with colleagues who care deeply for sisters and brothers in need and who have the abilities to capably respond to the needs when the means is at their disposal.

An album of pictures of the IDPs soon after their arrival and of their primitive living conditions is on my facebook page.