Rise Up & Talk: Refugee Radio, Ep. III

The Road to Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement

Bid Bidi Media Lab host Richard Akim, his wife Mary Knight, and colleague Peter Lomude delve into their pasts to remember the moment in 2016 when the South Sudan civil war reached their villages, forcing them to leave everything behind and flee into the bush toward Uganda and safety.

In the episode below we hear intimate stories of loss and survival during their months-long journeys, as each moves south toward the frontier through villages ravaged by violence, menacing government checkpoints, and hostile militia-held regions. Akim shares details of how he was captured by rebels, ultimately escaped, and was reunited with his wife in an abandoned village, where she’d stayed hidden with the help of a lone village chief. This is the first time they have shared their stories with the outside world.

Refugees from Equatoria, South Sudan gathered what they could as they fled the violence. Many were forced to sell their possessions on the road for their own survival or that of their families and fellow travelers. By the time they reached the river on the border of Uganda, after weeks hiding in the bush, they were malnourished, exhausted, and on the verge of collapse.

Rise Up & Talk, Episode III

Bidi Bidi Podcast episode III (31m, 55s) featuring interviews with Mary Knight and Peter Lomude.
Produced and hosted by Richard Akim. Edited by German Andino.