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Home / What we do / Testimonials / "We were woken up by gunshots," Mary-Juan, a 32-year-old South Sudanese woman li...
"We were woken up by gunshots," Mary-Juan, a 32-year-old South Sudanese woman living in Imvepi refugee camp in Uganda
In 2017, Mary-Juan joined
thousands of other refugees to begin a new life in Uganda, fleeing a
country devastated by civil war. She now lives in Imvepi refugee camp in Uganda, taking care of ten children aged between 1 and 13 years old, six of them her own.
In January 2020, during a visit to her
mother in the village of Kariwa in South Sudan, she was woken up at
night by the sound of gunfire. The soldiers were firing non-stop on the
village and the houses: unfortunately, two bullets went through Mary-Juans
left leg. After several unsuccessful attempts, she was transported to the regional hospital in Arua, Uganda, but the wound on her leg was so severe that there was no choice but to amputate it.
Today, Mary-Juan has regained hope, because - during a training mission for orthopaedic technicians - she was told that she will be given an artificial leg that will enable her to walk again and thus provide for her children.
Jaun and 74 refugees from South Sudan are the beneficiaries of
the SwissLimbs and AVSI Foundation
project, which aims to improve the quality of life of refugees living
with physical disabilities in various camps in Uganda through the
provision of orthoses, prostheses and other auxiliary devices.
In 2021, SwissLimbs
plans to create a new rehabilitation centre right in the heart of one of
the largest refugee camps in the world in order to support people to
live a healthy and productive life.
