ACT Alliance

Perina Nadai, a widow, tells of her terrifying escape from war.

“In our village, we were facing abduction threats. We see gunmen exchanging bullets.

“I was so panicked because this was a new thing in my life. I escaped by sneaking through the forest and crossing over the border.”

Perina is a refugee from southern Sudan living at Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, home to up to 90,000 people forced from their homes by war.  The camp is run by a large Lutheran team, including Australian Lutheran World Service, for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

In refugee situations, families are often separated and children lost.  In particularly difficult times, children can be abandoned.  The Lutheran team has set up a special foster parent programme to care for orphans, children who fled and abandoned children.

A total of 575 foster parents care for 1127 children. Perina is one of those parents.  She has taken in baby Matthew.

“The mother abandoned this child and disappeared from her home here in this camp. The reason I foster this child is that if I don’t take care of him, he will die.”

Perina’s husband was killed during the war in 2004. She too has her own children to care for, making her situation is very difficult.

“I had nothing to feed this child. The official rations do not last. There is not enough for the children and we must beg from the neighbours. The Lutherans help us.”

The program provides foster parents with blankets and clothes for the children, as well as milk formula for babies under six months.  Training programs help foster parents learn skills to earn more money.

Perina is reluctant to return home. “Since I lost my husband, there is no one to cultivate our land. Yet even though life is hard, I have hope of helping these children do well.”