This is what a man in the Bentiu refugee camp told me. He sought me out when he saw me writing down what women were telling me — in this case, women who were registering their babies for a proxy birth certificate, the only piece of paper they’ll have, until things settle down, that prove their kids exist. He spoke English. He’d walked forever, judging from the timber of his voice, with his four wives, and some children. His world was gone, but if I had some time — some real time to come for hours and discuss — we’d have tea and he’d try to tell me what is the everything.
I didn’t go back to find him. Sometimes, when you’ve been doing this work for a long time, the everything can be too much.
Other work from South Sudan
An Aid Worker Was Raped in South Sudan and the UN Did Almost Nothing About It
How Women in South Sudan Live War
