WESTERN EQUATORIA - “During the conflict, there was no freedom of movement. We did not even speak to one another. Now, when we see each other, we hug like sisters.”
For Gonina Louis, a displaced woman in Tambura, Western Equatoria state, something as simple as embracing a neighbour represents a remarkable change in a community once torn apart by violence.
For years, ethnic tensions and communal fighting kept families here separated by fear. Women living barely a kilometre apart did not dare visit each other's displacement camps, worried they could be attacked or abducted.
Today, those invisible boundaries are slowly disappearing, one cup of coffee at a time.
Through coffee gatherings supported by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), women from previously divided communities are rebuilding friendships and learning to trust one another again.
Christine Dominic remembers when leaving her camp meant risking her life.
“What frightened me most was that if I crossed to the other side, people would identify me and abduct me,” she recalls.
But the coffee gatherings have helped change that.
“We started crossing over to the camp near the barracks, and women from that camp began visiting us too,” Christine explains.
Rebuilding trust has not been easy.
Aidah Kazima, a local women's leader, remembers how deeply suspicion had taken hold.
“In the beginning, when they started joining us, they did not want to eat because they feared they would be poisoned.”
Determined to prevent renewed violence, these women are expanding their conversations beyond Tambura Centre, bringing representatives from different displacement camps together.
“We are doing this because we need peace in Tambura,” Aidah says. “People fight, but at the same time, they can make peace.”
For her part, Njoki Rahab Kinyajui, Head of the UN Peacekeeping mission’s Field Office in Western Equatoria’s capital, Yambio, says that women taking ownership of rebuilding relationships rather than waiting for outsiders to resolve their differences, is a model of grassroots peacemaking that should be replicated.
“These women have decided to take ownership of ways to build lasting peace rather than wait for solutions from outside or any external influence. At UNMISS, we want to replicate this determination — supporting, enabling and strengthening community-led initiatives as the driving force for sustainable peace.” she explains, reaffirming the Mission's commitment to supporting locally led reconciliation.
For women who once feared crossing a road to greet a neighbour, peace is no longer just a distant hope. It begins with a cup of coffee, a shared conversation and the courage to cross a divide.
By Okot Emmanuel
