As VIVAT International gathers for its annual conference on the urgent challenges facing refugees and migrants, I write from the Palorinya Refugee Settlement in northern Uganda, where I have the privilege of serving thousands of South Sudanese refugees. Every day, amid immense hardship, I witness extraordinary resilience, hope, and the quiet work of peacebuilding.
Uganda hosts more than two million refugees and asylum seekers, making it one of the world’s largest refugee-hosting countries. More than one million have fled South Sudan since civil war erupted in 2013. Palorinya Refugee Settlement alone is home to over 142,000 South Sudanese refugees who have endured years of displacement, uncertainty, and loss.
A Life Suspended Between Exile and Home
After more than a decade in exile, many refugees face two painful realities.
The first is the absence of lasting peace in South Sudan. Despite repeated international efforts, including Pope Francis’ moving appeal for reconciliation, national elections have been postponed, a permanent constitution remains unfinished, and security sector reforms remain incomplete. For countless families, returning home is still only a distant hope.
The second reality is the worsening humanitarian crisis. Since June 2025, nearly 90 percent of refugees have lost the food assistance on which they depended. Hunger has become more than a lack of food. It now threatens education, livelihoods, health, and community stability.
Hunger’s Ripple Effect
Education has suffered greatly. Many parents once sold a small portion of their food rations to pay school fees, buy uniforms, and support school feeding programs. Without those rations, many children can no longer attend school, while those who do often arrive hungry and unable to concentrate. An entire generation risks losing the education needed to rebuild its future.
Agriculture has become both a necessity and a source of hope. Refugee families cultivate every available plot of land with remarkable determination. Yet many lose their crops when freely grazing livestock destroy fields overnight. Simple measures such as protective fencing made from locally available materials and strategically placed barbed wire could safeguard harvests, strengthen food security, and protect families’ livelihoods.
Building Self-Reliance Through Partnership
Even in these difficult circumstances, signs of hope continue to emerge.
The Comboni Missionaries work closely with refugees, local landowners, and Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister to promote dialogue, cooperation, and peaceful coexistence. Rather than allowing scarce resources to become a source of conflict, we encourage shared responsibility and mutual trust.
Our multipurpose training center equips refugees with practical skills in carpentry, tailoring, mechanics, agriculture, and entrepreneurship. These programs help people move beyond dependence toward self-reliance, restoring confidence and dignity while creating new opportunities for their families.
Healing Hearts, Building Peace
At the heart of our mission is trauma healing and peacebuilding. Through community outreach and our permanent trauma healing center, we accompany individuals carrying deep emotional wounds caused by years of violence and displacement. Healing is not only personal; it is the foundation upon which peaceful families, resilient communities, and a stable nation can be rebuilt.
Young People Leading Reconciliation
Perhaps the greatest sign of hope comes from the young people.
In Palorinya, young refugees from ethnic communities that continue to fight one another in South Sudan now live, study, pray, sing, and celebrate together. Dinka youth learn Nuer songs, Nuer youth embrace Dinka traditions, and young people from many communities learn each other’s languages and cultures. They speak openly about forgiveness and reconciliation, demonstrating that unity is stronger than division.
Their shared motto says it all: “Ajukin, A Ajukin” — “Enough is enough.” They have witnessed the devastating consequences of conflict and have chosen not to pass hatred to the next generation. Instead, they are building a culture of peace that offers hope not only for the refugee settlement but also for the future of South Sudan.
To celebrate this growing unity, we are preparing a recorded Holy Mass in which young people from communities once divided by conflict will sing, dance, and pray together. Our first rehearsal was deeply encouraging. We hope this celebration will become a powerful witness that reconciliation is already taking root among South Sudanese refugees.
A Vision for the Future
Our pastoral and humanitarian work is guided by a five-year strategic plan that addresses both immediate needs and the deeper causes of conflict. We focus on strengthening faith, promoting quality education, fostering a shared South Sudanese identity beyond ethnic divisions, addressing alcoholism and addiction, expanding trauma healing and peace education, improving food security, and building sustainable self-reliance.
Humanitarian assistance remains essential, but it is not enough. Refugees need opportunities to regain their dignity, develop their talents, and prepare for a peaceful future, whether they remain in Uganda or eventually return home.
From Refuge to Hope
The story of Palorinya is not simply a story of displacement. It is a story of courage, reconciliation, and hope. Amid profound challenges, we see the seeds of peace being planted every day. With continued solidarity from the international community, those seeds can grow into a future where refugees are not only survivors but also peacemakers and active contributors to the rebuilding of South Sudan.
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