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| Lahash Partner Profile: Susan Tabia |
“ There are orphans who are suffering and no one is taking care of them…” Susan and her husband left Sudan for the United Kingdom soon after they were married so that he could pursue a Masters Degree. It was here where their son Simba was born. And it was here that shortly thereafter, word would come to Susan that her husband had been killed in a train accident. His death led her back home to Juba – the southern capital of Sudan, and a city in turmoil due to the increasingly violent struggles between the north and the south. “Many were suffering in Juba. I remember the orphans, just standing outside the hospital. There was no one helping them.” When the war in Sudan broke out, Susan and Simba were unable to leave Juba because of Susan’s health – a heart irregularity and a bout of Malaria prompted Susan’s employer to send her to Nairobi in the hopes of securing better medical care. A doctor’s note became their ticket out of Juba, which would soon become a center of activity in one of the longest running civil wars in African history. It is in Nairobi that Susan first had a vision for the life that God was calling her to. “I realized that God was always with us – me and Simba - because He sustained us in difficulty. If we could help someone in need, we had to find a way…” Susan wanted to return to Sudan. But as the war dug its deep roots in the earth of Southern Sudan, and Susan’s childhood home was destroyed, she realized that there was nothing left to return home to. Her family had been scattered throughout the continent of Africa – Sudan, Uganda, and Egypt. It is at about this time, that Susan started dreaming.
She laughed nervously a little as she told the story, realizing that to some, hearing from God in dreams may sound absurd. But she said, “Four times I dreamed this dream – that I was to come to a refugee camp – that there are orphans who are suffering and no one is taking care of them. When I told people about this dream, they were opposed.” she said. “They must have thought I was crazy,” she laughed. Even Susan’s son Simba tried to persuade her to come and stay with him in London where he was going for schooling. “I wanted to go,” Susan admitted, “but I knew that if I went anywhere other than the refugee camps, that I would not find peace.” Susan’s sister, who was living in Cairo at the time, believed in the vision God was calling her to, and vowed to help support her. At age 40, alone and still battling with health issues, Susan made her way from Nairobi to Adjumani – a town of refugees just south of the Sudanese border in Northern Uganda. Having never been to Adjumani, and having no family in the area, Susan arrived without a proper place to stay, equipped only with the few personal belongings she owned and a conviction that God was calling her there. “But I did not know how to find the children,” she recounted. “I didn’t even know where to begin.” But then she found the first – baby Robina – crawling in the bush. She took the baby around and began to ask about the whereabouts of the parents. She learned that the mother had passed just one day after Robina’s birth, and the father, who was young and afraid, had simply disappeared. The widow who had been watching over her had fallen ill. So the baby mostly cried.
A malnourished and under-clothed 2 year-old, Robina was so weak that she was unable to sit up on her own. After seven days under Susan’s care, she was walking. When people began to learn of Susan in Adjumani, many started to come to her with other children. Because Susan did not have a permanent place of residence – the refugees she lived amongst struggling for their own survival and provision - she could do nothing but visit the orphans. The home she found for Robina was only able to keep her for two weeks. Soon Susan began dreaming of a home and a piece of land where she could live with these children. With money she raised from selling gold bangles and clothing in Kampala, she was able to purchase one tukul, or hut from the elders of Adjumani. Thus, Amazing Grace Orphanage was born. The tukul became too small as people began bringing the children to her one by one. Susan’s sister continued to send money, and she continued to scrape by, eventually increasing the buildings to two. As Susan continued to live out the vision God had called her to carry, the hearts of those she encountered continued to be moved. One friend led her to the Netherlands Embassy, who gifted her $9,000 to help in her efforts. Another helped draft a project proposal and secured additional aid from the United Nations. The tukuls increased. The children continued to come. More clothing was purchased, and beds, medicines, and mosquito nets were brought in.
When visitors came to Adjumani to see for themselves the lives that Susan’s work was impacting, hearts were forever changed. What started as a vision to find orphans in Adjumani, expanded up into the war torn region of Kajo Keji in Southern Sudan. As peace began to settle in, the Mother’s Union brought her to Kajo Keji, and what she saw there was devastation unmatched by Adjumani. The orphans there were numerous, and had experienced all too closely the impacts of war having lived through the worst without escape – many having been witness to the death of parents and siblings. Again, Susan went to the local elders to plead for land on behalf of the orphans. And again, with the aid and kindness of visitors moved by Susan’s story – this time a group of Canadian Evangelists – the first three tukuls were built in that region, birthing the second orphanage which was to become St. Bartholomew’s.
Susan’s vision and compassion for those in need has extended far beyond the compound walls of Amazing Grace and St. Bartholomew’s. It has spilled out into the villages and towns, and into the lives of the widows, the lepers, the sick and the dying. Today, Susan works with IWASSARU – The International Widows Association of South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda – and continues to work tirelessly to provide support for the orphans, widows, and disabled victims of the war who are living in refugee camps in northern Uganda. Lovingly referred to as “Mama Susan” she is a faithful friend, advisor and partner to the Lahash team. More information: Amazing Grace Orphanage Website Susan and the team in Sudan would like to create a children's home for infant orphans. “These children – they depend on others." she said, "And they are increasing in number. When I dream now I dream that God provides the funds to increase the number of children we can take in the orphanages. We would like to create more centers. Keeping babies is so hard – we need more staff for this – and people are bringing us babies everyday that we have to turn away. I pray, that if God will it, that He will continue to bring more children…" |
