WESTERN EQUATORIA – Whenever sounds of gunshots shattered the quiet of the night, mothers in Lui knew what to do. Right away, they would gather their children, flee into the bush, and carry whatever they could to survive.
But even as they ran from violence, they refused to abandon their children's education.
“We carried books with us. When there was no chalk, we used cassava flour. We made blackboards from mud and taught our children the alphabet. This is why education still exists in Lui today,” recalled Mama Lilly Ginaba, a women's leader.
Her story captures the extraordinary resilience of a community that has spent generations fleeing violence, burying loved ones, and rebuilding lives from nothing. Today, its people are pleading for the peace many have never experienced.
During a patrol to Lui, peacekeepers working with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) met residents as part of the Hear Us, Act Now for Peace campaign, listening to extraordinary stories of resilience and learning about their longing for a future free from conflict.
For village Elder Isaac Majawa, the suffering stretches back decades:
“I focus on vocational training for our youth is because our people have nowhere else to go. We are in the center of the country. We cannot cross borders and access education elsewhere. Since 1955, our people have lived through suffering. Children are born here, they grow here, and they die here without knowing peace.”
His concern is shared by a generation of young people who have grown up knowing displacement and insecurity.
Youth representative Isaac Budrako made an emotional appeal during the community engagement.
“My name is Budrako, which means a person without a country. We grew up in conflict. Do our children also have to grow up in conflict? We are truly tired.”
Beyond insecurity, young people face unemployment and limited opportunities, challenges Budrako says leave some vulnerable to substance abuse and other harmful influences.
Yet rather than surrendering to these circumstances, many remain committed to helping their community heal.
Youth leader Fredrick Michael described how football tournaments bring together children affected by conflict, including those who have lost parents or been displaced.
“We bring them together so they can play, heal and learn how to live together as one community,” he explained.
On a dusty football field, these children find moments of happiness and friendship, a reminder that even in communities marked by conflict, opportunities for hope and reconciliation remain possible.
For Gibson Modi, rebuilding has been a lifelong lesson. Each time violence forced his family to flee, they had to start again somewhere else.
“When conflict erupts, everyone runs. You flee to one place, and when violence reaches there, you run again. But I never gave up. Every place we went to, we built new shelters and started again. That is how we survived and supported our families.”
Such experiences have left communities calling for the security that would allow them to return to their farms, send children to school and access healthcare without fear.
Listening to their concerns, Njoki Kinyanjui, Head of the UNMISS Field Office in Yambio, reaffirmed the Mission's commitment to working with local and state authorities to address community concerns and support peacebuilding.
“We always try to ensure that we pass on the messages of peace, but after getting the opportunity to truly listen to the issues the community of Lui raised, we will now have discussions with the state authorities as well as the county authorities to support them,” she said.
As the peacekeepers prepared to leave, the residents' message was clear - they want opportunities for their children, security for their families and the freedom to rebuild their lives without repeatedly running from violence.
For Mama Lilly Ginaba and the mothers who once turned the bush into classrooms, education was a way of protecting their children's future when all else seemed lost.
Now, the people of Lui hope that future will finally be one of peace; that the next generation will carry schoolbooks to classrooms, and not into the bush while escaping gunfire.
By Denis Louro
