While we are starting to rebuild and reconnect here in the U.S., our brothers and sisters in Sudan and South Sudan are experiencing more uncertainty and increased violence.
The pandemic has left countless more vulnerable and at risk of human trafficking. In response, we have doubled down on our efforts to reach more children this year.
Children like brothers Thad (age 16), Pad (age 15), Agad (age 12), Deng (age 10), and Agany (age 8) who are ALL in the first grade.*
After their father died of asthma few years ago, they moved with their mother to the local market. Things were hard and many days would pass without any food for the family of six. None of the children could go to school because even a pen couldn’t be afforded.
In February 2021, another tragedy rocked the brothers lives when their mother passed away suddenly. In one of the afternoons, their mother had developed a severe cough and serious difficulty in breathing. She could not speak to the children to explain how she was feeling.
In desperation, they carried her frail body in a wheelbarrow to the nearest health facility, but they could find no medical support or oxygen for their mother. Hours passed as the young boys tended to their dying mother, struggling to know what to do. She died in the night without access to any medical care.
Weeks went by after the funeral, but no one took notice of the boys — they simply and silently joined the ranks of the hundreds upon hundreds of other parentless children spread throughout Sudan and South Sudan; begging to survive.
Because of decades of conflict, infrastructure development in this region has ceased and hundreds of thousands are living in extreme poverty.
Human trafficking and exploitation thrive.
At its root, human trafficking is the exploitation of vulnerabilities. In places of extreme poverty and conflict, like Sudan and South Sudan, children are the most vulnerable and, therefore, are often exploited through sex trafficking, domestic servitude, labor trafficking, and as child soldiers.
We thank God that these brothers are now safe after one of the area chief’s decided to report their situation to our anti-trafficking network leaders. The village chief was astonished when it was agreed that the boys would receive protection in our safe-houses and have an opportunity for education — for the first time in their lives!
Currently the brothers are doing well and are being supported on their healing journey.
Our child welfare coordinator recently asked each brother what they hope to become in the future, and all want to extend the hope given to them on to others — three want to become doctors and two want to become humanitarian aid workers.
LUV prevents the trafficking of children and women in warzones and empower them to be agents of change in their own lives and communities.
This is a moment of extraordinary volatility and urgency in Sudan and South Sudan, and we need your help. Your passion, your prayers, and your financial support are essential to move our shared goal forward of lifting up the world’s most vulnerable orphans and being a resource to children who have no where else to go for help.
Join us today with a monthly gift or one-time donation that will protect, educate, empower, and lift up more vulnerable children with Christ’s love.
*To protect identities, we do not disclose real names of minors.