When Home is New: Sarah_Elliott_Returnees_Juba06

Sakis Edward Laku, 35, left Juba at age 10 during the war and moved to Lobonk with his family. In Lobonk the SPLA would appear, his family would help them carry ammunition, feed them and give them water. When the gov’t national congress bombed the area, his family fled. In 1994 he moved to Uganda, the UN began helping him and his family with food, but they had to find their own housing. He lived in Jumani District for more than 11 years. He was in and out of primary school, his parents had difficulty paying school fees for him. In 2005, after the Peace Agreement was signed, he left his parents in Uganda and moved back to South Sudan by himself. “Staying in another country is not favorable, I have that love for my people, I wanted to see what happened during the war, and I wanted to be with my people. We only left because of the war, but had no intention of staying there. By a miracle we have Independence, it’s a new nation to develop.” Sakis has been working at Al Sahab hospital for the past 5 years as a statistic clerk. Before leaving Sudan as a child, Sakis remembers fishing with his childhood friends.

Sakis Edward Laku, 35, left Juba at age 10 during the war and moved to Lobonk with his family. In Lobonk the SPLA would appear, his family would help them carry ammunition, feed them and give them water. When the gov’t national congress bombed the area, his family fled. In 1994 he moved to Uganda, the UN began helping him and his family with food, but they had to find their own housing. He lived in Jumani District for more than 11 years. He was in and out of primary school, his parents had difficulty paying school fees for him. In 2005, after the Peace Agreement was signed, he left his parents in Uganda and moved back to South Sudan by himself. “Staying in another country is not favorable, I have that love for my people, I wanted to see what happened during the war, and I wanted to be with my people. We only left because of the war, but had no intention of staying there. By a miracle we have Independence, it’s a new nation to develop.” Sakis has been working at Al Sahab hospital for the past 5 years as a statistic clerk. Before leaving Sudan as a child, Sakis remembers fishing with his childhood friends.