Akuot Chol MayakHonourable Mention, Planet
Home is No Longer Home
Children row a boat through flood water and under dead trees as they paddle towards an island in the village of Pawel, in Twic East County, Jonglei state, South Sudan. With schools destroyed by floods, most of the school children have now turned to fishing as their only means of survival.
The devastating floods submerged people’s homes, leaving them with no dry land to stay on. People now live along the Jonglei Canal and on the few small islands that remain above the water level. The floods also brought with them a high number of malaria cases, waterborne diseases, and snake bites.
27 of South Sudan’s 78 counties and more than 630,000 people are impacted by the floods. Most of the villages of Twic East County in Jonglei State are accessible only by canoes and small motorboats that can navigate the newly-formed water bodies.