In Yambio, in southwestern South Sudan – a town known for its agriculture and fertile lands – teenager Salwa and her mother, Grace Martin, are beginning their day.
Now in her final year of primary school, Salwa has big dreams for the future, but faces many challenges.
“My mother struggled a lot and even now she works very hard to pay my school fees and bring us food every day,” she says. “This makes me want to go to school and study very hard to help her in the future.”
Martin is a single mother of two. Along with raising her children and two sisters, she cares for her own mother.
“I had a lot of problems before,” says Martin. “I didn’t have enough money to pay school fees and my children were falling sick because there was not enough food in the house.”
Today, however, Martin works at a community farm, where she has a vegetable plot. She also contributes to improving access to community roads. Both activities are part of a joint project to build resilience, run by UNICEF and WFP and funded by the German Development Bank.
The initiative, which includes training in such areas as post-harvest management and business, has been rolled out in urban areas of South Sudan like Yambio.
It aims to enhance access to safe learning spaces, improve health and nutrition services, and bolster food security for communities. For Martin and her daughter, this support has been transformative, turning dreams into stepping stones for a brighter future.
“Now my children eat at least two meals every day and school fees are a priority,” Martin says.
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Source: WFP.org
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