South Sudan Red Cross volunteers: Dedicated to the cause despite personal loss

  • Christina is raising awareness on how to maintain hygiene in difficult conditions.
    Christina is raising awareness on how to maintain hygiene in difficult conditions.
    "When the violence started I came to the Red Cross compound with my little daughter. We still can’t return home. We need safety. You can even survive without food, but the most important thing is safety."
    CC BY-NC-ND / Alyona Synenko / ICRC
  • Amin is providing first aid at the Red Cross clinic.
    Amin is providing first aid at the Red Cross clinic.
    I’m a tailor and I usually work at the market. It is now closed, so I can’t work. So many people are here. I sometimes worry we don’t have the capacity to help everybody.
    CC BY-NC-ND / Alyona Synenko / ICRC
  • Sebit is providing first aid at the Red Cross clinic.
    Sebit is providing first aid at the Red Cross clinic.
    “My house got burnt. I lost everything. Some of my neighbors and friends fled the town and I haven’t heard from them since. The only way to not think about it is to continue working.”
    CC BY-NC-ND / Alyona Synenko / ICRC
  • Pascuale is helping to maintain hygiene.
    Pascuale is helping to maintain hygiene.
    “I haven’t had any news from my family since they fled the fighting. Not knowing what happened to them keeps me awake at night. I only feel better when I talk to other people in the same situation. We try to encourage each other.”
    CC BY-NC-ND / Alyona Synenko / ICRC
  • Wau, South Sudan.
    Wau, South Sudan.
    Some 5,000 displaced people came to the South Sudan Red Cross compound following the armed clashes. In the first hours they received food and some basic household items.
    CC BY-NC-ND / Alyona Synenko / ICRC
  • Wau, South Sudan.
    Wau, South Sudan.
    Women waiting to receive medical care at the clinic in the South Sudan Red Cross compound.
    CC BY-NC-ND / Alyona Synenko / ICRC
  • Biringi, outside the town of Wau, South Sudan.
    Biringi, outside the town of Wau, South Sudan.
    Women waiting to receive food from the ICRC at the Biringi displacement site approximately 25 kilometres from Wau. Within a week following the armed clashes, the ICRC had distributed food rations to some 70,000 people.
    CC BY-NC-ND / Alyona Synenko / ICRC
  • Wau, South Sudan.
    Wau, South Sudan.
    A mother and son at the south Sudan Red Cross compound, where some 5,000 people fled following the armed clashes. In the first hours they received food and some basic household items.
    CC BY-NC-ND / Alyona Synenko / ICRC
  • Wau, South Sudan.
    Wau, South Sudan.
    A mother and daughter at the south Sudan Red Cross compound, where some 5,000 people fled following the armed clashes. In the first hours they received food and some basic household items.
    CC BY-NC-ND / Alyona Synenko / ICRC
  • Biringi, outside the town of Wau, South Sudan.
    Biringi, outside the town of Wau, South Sudan.
    Women waiting to receive food from the ICRC at the Biringi displacement site approximately 25 kilometres from Wau. Within a week following the armed clashes, the ICRC had distributed food rations to some 70,000 people.
    CC BY-NC-ND / Alyona Synenko / ICRC
08 July 2016

Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes at the end of June when fighting broke out in Wau, South Sudan. Many of those were South Sudan Red Cross volunteers, but that hasn't stopped them from working around the clock to help others in need.