Aid workers are heading back to Malakal in Southern Sudan after a ceasefire was negotiated over the weekend.
Many civilians who fled the town when the fighting started last week between a militia group and the Sudan People's Liberation Army are also cautiously returning home.
The fighting caused massive destruction in the town. Aid agency staff are being called back as security is assured, so much-needed assistance to the area can continue again.
"When you look around and see the destruction caused in such a short space of time, it is heartbreaking," said Chris Imana, World Vision's area coordinator in Malakal, who stayed in the town to help coordinate responses with other agencies.
"There is a massive amount of work to be done clearing up after this last weeks events. The devastating thing is that this fighting puts the development that was being done here back again."
Many in the population are trying to trace relatives, some of whom had gone into hiding while others have been killed. Women, trying to collect belongings such as cooking items and clothes, often they find their possessions were stolen or destroyed. There are many that do not even have containers to collect water from the river.
Malakal hospital reports that many more wounded are attending for treatment as they return from hiding. The influx is putting the already-stretched hospital under enormous strain.
Some school pupils will miss the national exams which were supposed to start last week.
Shops in town are re-opening and people are starting to move round, encouraged that there are no soldiers with weapons in Malakal. Fighting factions have withdrawn to their previous positions.
World Vision is participating in a joint humanitarian assessment to assess the needs of displaced people returning to the town. These assessments are looking at food needs, water and sanitation, health and other possible interventions.
Notes for editors
World Vision interventions in Southern Sudan include food aid, health, education, water and sanitation, non-food emergency relief, protection, food security and malaria prevention.
These activities are supported by WFP, OFDA, UN-CHF, the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, Japan Platform, ECHO and the German Government. Most World Vision support offices are involved in supporting the programme in Upper Nile.
Our operations are traditionally concentrated in Tonga and Fashoda area of Upper Nile. The coordination office in Malakal supports project sites in Nyilwak, Papwojo and Athidwai. The non-food item distribution team covers all of Upper Nile area where beneficiaries have been identified; its recent operations have focused on Nyilwak, and Malakal and its environs.
Interviews
Chris Imana is available for limited media work from Malakal.
Please contact Joanna Trevor at the WV Sudan office to arrange this, and for more information: Joanna_trevor@wvi.org or on +254 733 606 100.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
