From an early age, the lives of Nyaneng Simon Tut and her family have been constantly disrupted. They come from South Sudan, but due to insecurity in the country, they were forced to flee and settle in the Kakuma refugee camp, where Simon was born. She now lives in Nairobi, Kenya, with some of her siblings and is studying at university. 

I was brought to Nairobi at a very young age due to lack of stability my mother faced. Since, then, I’ve been living here in Nairobi. I do have siblings. Some of them are in South Sudan, some are in Kakuma, and others are here with me. My mother had to return in South Sudan, because she is our breadwinner. 

There are so many challenges we face as refugees, the primary one being access to education. And then there are secondary challenges, such as those affecting our mental health. I don’t live with my mother. Being apart is difficult because you really need your parents there to guide you through everything – with your siblings and other family members. We have siblings younger than us. And most of the times they ask questions like, why are we not living with our parents? So we’re left answering questions we don’t even know the answers to.   

Another challenge is the stereotype we face as refugees – the feeling of not being at home.  

So living in Kenya has its good sides, but also had it’s ups and downs. 

In terms of education, I’d say I was quite lucky because I was born at a time when free education was introduced in Kenya. Things became a bit hectic when I got to secondary school. I dropped out around 2016 and stayed out of school for two years — in 2016 and 2017. 

I completed Form 4* in 2022. Since then, I haven’t been able to enrol in a prestigious university like many would hope to. I’ve just been trying to find scholarships, and that’s how I discovered Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU)*, supported by JRS, which has been a great help to me. Studying communication has always been my dream, and this opportunity is helping me achieve that. 

There’s a common belief that South Sudanese girls in Kenya don’t finish Form 4 — that if a man calls you from outside, you just fall into the wrong path and end up pregnant. 

To my fellow young women, I want to say: there is still hope. It is not by choice that we find ourselves in different host countries, but we should know that one day we’ll return home. Everyone longs for that feeling of: “I’m home”. And to the ladies, I say: the struggles are many, and no one can promise that they’ll end — they will still be there. But we must prepare ourselves mentally and psychologically, so we can walk through these challenges and persevere until we make something of ourselves. 

* Final year of secondary school in Kenya. 

* The partnership between Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and Southern New Hampshire University’s (SNHU) Global Education Movement, offers to refugees the opportunity to continue their studies and build a brighter economic future.