Nyaliak

Abstract

This chapter tells the story of Nyaliak, aged thirty-two, a South Sudanese mother whose household sits at the seventieth percentile of the Kakuma income distribution. She fled South Sudan at the outbreak of the civil war, first seeking shelter at a United Nations base in Juba before travelling to Kenya with a newborn baby. Along the way, she lost family members and now carries the lasting trauma of violence and displacement. In Kakuma, she lives in a large extended household that relies on food rations, cash transfers, and the irregular earnings of her husband, who does casual work for a Somali businessman collecting loan repayments and occasionally helps neighbours with electrical repairs. Nyaliak herself is enrolled as an over-age learner in primary school and is preparing for the national exams. Her story highlights the importance of education in Kakuma but also the heavy psychological toll of displacement. Like many refugees, she has witnessed violence and suffered personal loss, including the death of her young daughter from malaria. Yet, despite these hardships, she finds strength in schooling, faith, and her hopes for her children’s future.