Arok Deroka

Summary

“My dream is to become a doctor, to help some other people’s future,” says 16-year-old Arok.

Her mother works hard to provide for Arok and her brothers but struggles to meet their needs.

When hungry, Arok says it’s difficult to concentrate in class.

“If there’s no food at lunch time, you’ll not even understand what the teacher’s teaching because you just feel like sleeping. You feel hunger, you feel a lot of pain.”

Hear from Arok

“And my dream is to become a doctor, to help some other people’s future, like those who fall sick”

~ Arok

Arok’s story

Sixteen-year-old Arok knows the pain of the South Sudan war firsthand. She was forced to leave behind her home and everything she owned – and one of her older brothers was killed as they tried to escape.

“We started coming from South Sudan because of the attack of war that’s going on,” she says. “One of my brothers, the elder one, he was killed on the way when we were coming here.”

For seven years, she has lived in a refugee settlement with her mother and brothers. Her father left her mother to marry another woman and Arok doesn’t see him much. But he returned recently in an attempt to marry Arok off. She hid with the help of her family and narrowly escaped that fate.

She says her priority is her education right now. She needs to study hard to fulfil her ambition to become a doctor.

“My favourite subjects are mathematics and science. My dream is to become a doctor, to help some other people’s future, like those who fall sick and are now in our health centre here. That’s why I want to become a doctor.”

Her mother works hard to provide for Arok and her brothers, but it’s very difficult to pay for their school fees and meet all their needs.

“My mother does a small business to come and pay my school fees here,” Arok says.

But, like so many of their neighbours in the community, they can go for days without enough to eat. When those times of hunger inevitably come, Arok says it’s very difficult to concentrate in class.

“If there’s no food at lunch time, you’ll not even understand what the teacher’s teaching because you just feel like sleeping. You feel hunger, you feel a lot of pain.”

Yet support on the ground from Feed The Hungry is providing thousands like Arok with a hot, nutritious meal at lunchtime. And with a full stomach, it is much easier for her to concentrate in class, learn well, and continue moving toward her dream.

“You feel fine if there’s food,” she says. “But if there’s no food, I don’t know that I will survive.”

Your support is urgently needed to help more children like Arok receive the nutrition they need to grow and thrive. Your gift of just $6 on Take Away Hunger Day will feed a hungry child-like Arok at school for a whole month. More than a meal, you’ll be helping provide children with an education and the opportunity to know God’s love!