By Regina Koninee | Nutrition Assistant | World Vision South Sudan
In Mangalla Payam, the sun rises on worries over land disputes, localised conflicts, and hunger for young girls. These destroyed schools, villages, market stalls, and people’s livelihoods. Children learn under the trees, and their dreams feel impossible. Every day, families hear of cows being stolen and farms being destroyed.
Sergeant Thomas Lado is a father of six, four girls and two boys. He works in the army, but his salary can barely buy 20 kilograms of maize flour. To make matters worse, it has been two years ever since public servants, including servicemen, received salaries. His firstborn, Susan, is only 21 years old. She had to inherit her father’s responsibility at an early age.
Susan walks four miles every day to sell cookies to support her family. She also supports her mother with house chores and garden work.
This changed when the Joining Forces for Food Security and Child Protection (JF-FS&CPiE) project was initiated.
The project, in collaboration with community leaders, conducted an assessment to identify four young people—two girls and two boys—to participate in a three-month vocational skills training program in tailoring and carpentry at Egypt Academy in Juba. Following the assessment, Susan and another displaced young woman were selected for tailoring training, while two adolescent boys were chosen for carpentry training.
However, Susan’s father, Thomas, was hesitant to allow his daughter from Mangalla to travel to Juba. Concerned about her safety, he expressed his fears, saying, “Juba, and my daughter traveling alone…the road from Mangalla to Juba is not safe.”
“We coordinate with the army to secure the road. We will pay for her accommodation, food, and training. Your daughter could be the hope of Mangala,” the JF-FS&CPiE team assured Susan’s father about the safety.
On the first day at Egypt Academy, the sawing machine flipped out of Susan’s hand. She cried and remembers, “I was afraid they may send me back to Mangalla.” But as time passed, she started learning how to hold a needle, cut the designs, and use scissors; she became encouraged.
Koninee Regina, Nutrition Assistant for JF-FS&CPiE, told Susan that “this needle is your new weapon…a weapon that builds, not destroys. Become friends with it.” She learned how to make patterns and cut a shirt. The first thing she sewed was a small t-shirt, and she sent it to her brother Emmanuel in Mangala.
Now, Susan is not the same. She speaks with boldness and confidence, having learned how to thread, calculate costs, and add a profit margin. “I am now more than just the village girl from Mangalla. I am a tailor. I thought conflicts had buried my dream, but it is alive in needle and thread. I came back with a bold hope, believing I have achieved my dream.”
In May 2026, Susan and her colleagues graduated. They received certificates and start‑up kits, including sewing machines. Standing proudly, Susan said, “With this kit, I will start my own place. I’m going home with bold hope, and the first outfit I sew will be for my father.”
Susan is one of eight young people—four girls and four boys—displaced by conflict in Tambura and floods in Mangalla counties who successfully completed vocational skills training in tailoring and carpentry at Egypt Academy in Juba and Tindoka Vocational Training Centre in Yambio. Her journey demonstrates how access to vocational skills, combined with the right support and personal determination, can transform hardship into hope and create opportunities for a more self-reliant future.