File:Name Rebecca Nyakuo Age 35 Location Rumbek Origin Mayendit – Unity State (14101424817).jpg

My husband is a police officer and has been one all his life. He was stationed at Roofchuol-Akol, not far from Rumbek, where he lived. I was visiting him when the fighting broke out on 16th December.

We have two children and needed to keep them safe. The only option was the UNMISS (UN Mission in South Sudan) compound. I had been working at the tea kiosk at the airport and had missed a couple of days of work. My phone was not working and no one at work could contact me. My colleagues at work did not know that I was at the UN compound.

They asked around for me, questioned people in the town to find out where I had gone. They said they had been worried about me, given what was happening in different parts of the country, and the fact that my family is Nuer. They finally got word that I was at the UNMISS compound and came to visit me. When my phone started working, they called me on a regular basis to find out how I was coping and how the family was. When we were really struggling, they offered me some money, without any expectation of getting it back.

Even though they were Dinka, they went out of their way to make sure we were alright.

As we speak now, today is my first day back at work. When I was in the camp, my employer said that I should take as much time as I needed, do what I had to do to keep my family safe, and then I could go back to work.

I am evidently a Nuer but no one has said or done anything to make me feel like I am under threat. This is in part due to the extra mile my colleagues went to comfort me and make sure I was alive and well.