Fifty-six year old Gabriel Gatluak Kuei was forced to flee his home in Jebel, on the outskirts of Juba, the capital of South Sudan, after fighting broke out in 2013. Since then, he has been living in the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in Juba with his wife and children under the protection of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

“I used to own a shop when I lived outside of the site and when the fighting started, I had to leave everything I owned behind,” said Gabriel. “I hope that we can have peace again so that I can return to my shop.”

He said that a year after arriving at the UN PoC site, he managed to save enough money to buy basic goods to sell to other internally displaced people living at the site. The shop he runs has helped keep him busy and, with the little money he makes, he is able to buy food and soap for his family.

Residents at the PoC site are able to buy essentials using restricted value vouchers received from the World Food Programme (WFP). However, with limited availability of vouchers, Gabriel said that he is sometimes forced to sell on credit as people do not have money.

“I sell beans, water, milk, matches, candles, soap, salt and sugar,” he said.

In a day, Gabriel makes between 300 and 400 South Sudanese Pounds (approx. US$2.40 to US$3.40 respectively) and only when he has saved about 2,000 SSP (approx. US$16) can he buy stock from outside the camp. However, he said that is afraid to go outside of the camp for fear of persecution so he sends someone else to get stock for the shop.

Gabriel has more family living at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in the North-Western region of Kenya who also fled the crisis.

There are currently over thirty-eight thousand civilians seeking safety in UNMISS PoC sites next to the UN base in Juba.