Refugees Turn to Brick Making to Support their Livelihood

However, South Sudanese refugees in Ofua Zone under Rhino camp settlement in Terego district have opted to look for alternative ways of earning income to supplement the food ratio which from February 2021 has been reduced due to minimal resources following the outbreak of COVID 19 that hit the whole world.

John Dada a South Sudanese refugee who is a senior two student at Ofua III secondary school explained that the reduction of food ratio has compelled many of the refugees especially students who have been idle following the closure of school to focus on income-generating activities earn a living.

“We are just searching for a job such as a brick making, digging, and building houses to get money to buys essential commodities for our use,’’ he expressed adding that the money they get will also help them to buy items such as books, school uniform, and other necessities when schools reopen.

Levi Charles another South Sudanese refugee revealed that he is able to get at least Ugandan Shillings 9000 (US Dollars 2.45) from every 300 bricks he lays. Levi who is a student says that he has been using the money to buy items he will need when schools reopen.

“Whenever I make some cash, I use it to buy what I need for school. I feel that I am a grown-up and should stop depending on my parents for every necessity, especially personal effects. Instead, whenever I make some money, I do share some amount with my parents to supplement our family needs,” Levi explained adding that he also takes care of some expenses for his younger siblings.

Meanwhile, Moses Muba another South Sudanese refugee applied to the Office of Prime Minister to provide extra land to the refugees to enable them to engage in meaningful agricultural activities that would ease their needs. He explained that last month, refugees are only getting 6kgs of food ratio which cannot sustain the majority of families till the next distribution which is usually at the end of every month.

‘’When we first arrived, we asked at Office of the Prime Minister if at least we could be given an additional land for farming since we are people who used to farm for a living, ’ Moses said.

He expressed that their desire to have an extra piece of land to do some farming activities was not honored and this has made the majority of them depend solely on the food ratio as the plots allocated to them are too small and were only meant for residing.

Meanwhile, Robert Data the program manager for Action for people in need organization, a South Sudanese community-based organization working with refugees in Ofua Zone notes that the reduction in food ratio is a big challenge for single mothers who have to solely take care of their families.

“The situation calls for UNHCR as an agent to come and assess the situation on the ground and see how they can alleviate the sufferings of many refugee families at the settlements,” Robert said.

He further expressed that refugees were allocated areas allocated that cannot sustain any agricultural activities as the grounds are rocky thus not suitable for farming. This means that such refugees, the majority of who lack jobs have to depend solely on the food ratio.

By Gaaniko Samson Jerry