Ten-year old Achut lives alone

Achut lives alone. She is 10 years old.

In her short life, she’s known more violence and death than most of us would dare to imagine. Five years ago, gunmen ambushed her father’s home in South Sudan and brutally murdered him.

She was only young, but Achut has vivid memories of the event.

“The attackers came in the middle of the night and killed him and burnt the house,” she says.

Just last year, she lost her mother too. The threat of violence is an ever-present reality. With no parents, Achut and her brother were even more vulnerable.

“Our place was attacked at night. There was a house across from ours and people were killed, so when we were running, we saw one of the women get killed."

"That gave me a lot of nightmares, so I really don’t want to go back to that place,” recalls Achut.

Achut is one of an estimated 50 million children who have fled their home because of war. She initially moved to a camp for displaced people with her brother. When he joined the army, she was left alone, haunted by memories of that night.

This is conflict. And it’s forcing orphaned children to step into the shoes of adulthood way before their time. All while dealing with grief, loss, and unresolved trauma.

“When we came here, it was so difficult for me to live without food,” recalls Achut.

“Living alone hurts me so much. Sometimes, I feel afraid of going to fetch water because of what may happen to me.”

This is not childhood. Across the world, children are dealing with the fallout of wars and violence not of their making. But together, we can help children, like Achut, to survive, recover and build a future.

With your support, our local staff in South Sudan are getting food and essential clothing into the camp where she lives.

Children like Achut, who have no one else to support them, are our priority. You’re also helping us provide child protection in the camp, to make sure Achut and the other young people living on their own are safe.

“If the food that was distributed wasn’t there, then I wouldn’t have anything to eat. I’d have to go to the bush to get something to eat by myself,” says Achut.

By giving to Childhood Rescue, you can help children who are all alone like Achut not only survive, but receive the resources they need to dream of a brighter future.