Finding families for Sudanese refugee children

The conflict in Sudan has created an unimaginable crisis for Sudanese children—the largest child displacement crisis in the world. With family members being separated and killed in the violence, thousands of girls and boys have been orphaned or left to fend for themselves.

Thousands of people have crossed into neighbouring Chad, where more than3,300 Sudanese refugee children are unaccompanied or separated from their parents. As they arrive at refugee camps, host families and organizations like World Vision are working to bring these children into the care of willing families and—whenever possible—reunite them with relatives.

The welcome committee

Maboula champions these efforts at Milé Refugee Camp in Guéréda, Chad. A refugee herself, Maboula fled here from northern Darfur. She now volunteers on Milé’s welcome committee, working to find homes for children who arrive without their families.

This is how she met Waleed and Mohammad.

Waleed is just 10 years old. He was separated from his grandmother and his parents in El Fasher, Sudan, while fleeing the violence, and followed others making their way to the camp.

Mohammad, 17, has a similar story. He has no idea where his brother, four sisters or parents are. “I lost them,” he says simply, showing clear signs of trauma. He made the dangerous trek to Milé at night, knowing that he may be killed if seen in daylight.

Both boys found a temporary home with Maboula and her son, until something unlikely happened.

Meeting a relative for the first time, and finding a home

Ten-year-old Waleed remembered the name of an uncle he’d never met before: Sadik.

It made sense that Waleed hadn’t met him—at 38, Sadik had already been a refugee for half his life, living as far away as Kakuma, Kenya.

Though it seemed implausible, Maboula was able to locate Uncle Sadik at Milé Refugee Camp.

“I feel like I’ve always been on the run,” Sadik shared, showing the scar on his head from a run-in with a militia group.

Sadik, his wife and children offered a home to Waleed and Mohammad. It feels like the right place for the boys to land, since Sadik has firsthand experience with the kinds of horrors they’ve been through.

World Vision’s work in Milé Refugee Camp

There are 311 unaccompanied Sudanese refugee children living in Milé Refugee Camp.

So far, World Vision has reunited 25 children with relatives, while the others have been welcomed into nurturing host families.

Beyond reunification efforts, World Vision is providing safe water and has established two child-friendly spaces. These are especially critical for separated and traumatized children—the spaces create opportunities to play and learn, and begin to process the suffering they’ve endured.

Written by Katie Hackett, with notes from Kari Costanza and Jon Warren