Hellen Murshali

"CCC was originally meant only for girls, touching issues surrounding young girls living on the streets, orphaned, unaccompanied, and those in dire need, but eventually, when statistics were carried out in the streets of Juba we realised that not only the girls but the boys were equally affected."

"We are not getting assistance from the government and, in fact, some of the kids are brought here by the government because the facility they have always takes older children from 5 years of age and up, but we often get 10 newly born babies."

"There are also good friends of the children who bring us food and non-food items, nappis, second-hand clothes and our good staff who are calm. When you see the children, you just have to take care of them because they are our children and South Sudanese children. “What the kids eat is what we eat.”"

"An eye-opener, really. I don’t know if people realise the fragility of children of this nature because before coming here, perhaps we knew enough about orphans. If both your parents die, the extended family looks after you, but if they are unwilling, the government has to take care of you."

"Family tracing and unification is one of the hardest things to do, but we engage the Red Cross, which has the capacity to cross borders. We try as much as possible to get the information updated regularly so that the child can be relocated when he or she grows up."

"There are also children who are hyperactive and cannot stay still but are always creating trouble. You won’t realise this until you stay with them and see with your own eyes. It gives you a wider spectrum of what children are like in the real world."

"If there are people out there trying to sponsor a child. Let them do so. Also, if you have two children and have the ability to sponsor another one, please do that, even in government schools since they are cheap. If you can sponsor a child through senior four, you will have done a wonderful thing."