Photo Credit: Refugees International
06/06/2007

Since January 9, 2005 -- the date of the signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) -- things have started to change. In the town of Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile State, RI met with Oywalk, a man in his forties who had arrived from Khartoum along with his two wives. “I spent ten years in exile and I came back with my own means. As soon as I arrived my brother helped us and he let us build a house in his property. We hope to go outside Malakal, since here it’s difficult to find food and clean water costs a lot of money.” Five of Oywalk’s children are going to the local school but like many other returning students, they are confronted with crowded conditions and classes of more than one hundred pupils each. Still, through many interviews, it was evident that the receiving communities have been extremely supportive and welcomed the returnees.