
‘We have to help each other’: Chilliwack resident returns from refugee camp in South Sudan
CHILLIWACK — Andy Harrington is happily back in Chilliwack after being away on a humanitarian visit a few months ago.
Speaking with Fraser Valley Today from his home on the lush green pastures of Ryder Lake, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank executive recollected his time spent on the dry tropical savanna of South Sudan.
The organization visited a refugee camp in Aweil in March to assess the need for its programs and saw that the situation remains as dire as ever.
“There’s about 25,000 people in that refugee camp, and what we saw there was really quite disturbing,” said Harrington. “We had women thrusting their babies at us trying to get us to help them. We were engulfed in a crowd saying you’ve got to help us this can’t happen we will die.”