A Village Under Siege

Panyagor, a village in Twic East in South Sudan, is a village under siege. It's a village at the mercy of our environment. It's a village that has seen much of it submerged as a result of flooding and uncharacteristically high levels of rainfall. Homes are no more, health centres are underwater, roads now resemble rivers. It's a community that is, in many senses, destroyed - like 85% of the villages in the district. But Panyagor is also a village that has somehow - despite overwhelming odds to the contrary - managed to survive....for now. Panyagor represents not just the devastation that our environment can cause to those who have contributed so little to our climate crisis but also represents the resilience of a community. Photos taken on assignment with UNICEF in January 2022.

Photo 1: 8 year old Bol Lual sits on what looks like a river bank but is in fact a man-made dyke - built over the course of three years - that keeps the flood water at bay.

Photo 2: 13 year old Athieng Akoi Duot washes pots in the flood water. Behind her was once the road into the village.

Photo 3: As dusk approaches, a boy walks along the man-made dyke.

Photo 4: A girl looks out over submerged homes.

Photo 5: Women drag lumber through flooded fields.

Photo 6: Boys walk along the man-made dyke on the way to a game of football. Despite the devastation, daily life continues for many of those community members left behind in flooded Panyagor.

Photo 7: Boys dive into flooded fields.

Photo 8: A flooded nutrition site in the nearby village of Pawel.

Photo 9: A boat, with UNICEF staff and health workers on board, travels along what was a main road en route to delivering medical supplies.

Photo 10: The boat passes flooded homes.

Photos taken on assignment with UNICEF in January 2022.