Child Protection Team Reunites Hearing and Speech-Impaired Child with his Family
Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) has been implementing child protection programs in Juba, Central Equatoria for the past three years. Part of our work involves family tracing and reunification activities for unaccompanied and separated children. These children are estranged from their caregivers due to conflict or conflict related circumstances.
The case of nine year old Luat Juma Abdurahman proved to be very unique. His case was referred to NP since the child protection program has become generally well-known in South Sudan. Luat is a vibrant bright boy who happens to be hearing and speech-impaired. One day he was seen loitering outside of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) compound. This caught the attention of the security officers guarding the compound gate, who then contacted Nonviolent Peaceforce for assistance.
Under the care of NP Luat was placed in an interim care centre and efforts began to reunite him with his family. As Luat is hearing-impaired with no sign language abilities, finding out his identity and the whereabouts of his family proved to be difficult. In the first two days his response to all inquiries about his background was the same. This consisted of flailing his arms and making sound effects cognizant of an airplane taking off. This led the child protection team to believe he had arrived by air to Juba and had somehow become separated from his family. A search of a school for hearing-impaired children also proved to be fruitless.
On the second day NP convinced a local TV station to place a photo of Luat in the daily news segment and make a public appeal to locate the boy’s family. While the search for his family was taking place, Luat got to enjoy a celebration of International Women’s Day. The event was organized by the United Nations refugee agency at the Way Station, the government and an NGO run interim care centre. The interim care centre is for refugees, displaced persons and returnees and NP was a guest there.
On March 13 Luat’s family contacted the TV station. NP learned the family actually lived in Juba. After conducting a verification process to confirm the identity of his parents, Luat was finally reunited with his mother and siblings. NP learned that Luat had left his home on one side of Juba to cross town towards the airport near the UNMISS compound. He was in pursuit of his father who was away from the family working in Abyei. The boy was attempting to reunite with his father and the plane gestures were a request to be taken to meet him there. The case was finally resolved when Luat was reunited with his mother and siblings in the Jebel area of Juba.
NP’s child protection family tracing and reunification (FTR) program provides protective presence and accompaniment while investigating each case. It also safely transports vulnerable children from rescue and escape locations and bring them to interim care centers. From these locations they are eventually brought back to their family and community.
By Atkilt Geleta