Mary could hear gunfire getting closer and closer to her home in Manipur, India.
Her walls began to vibrate from the impact of nearby explosions. She grabbed what she could carry and fled on foot with her two young children into the night. They had to go quickly while there was still a chance to leave.
She fled to her sister-in-law’s home a couple of villages away. “We thought, like every time, it would cool down,” she tells us. “But after waiting for a week, we learned that our village was burned, our houses were burned. We then knew we had to flee. We didn’t take anything, not even a suitcase… I was so nervous I couldn’t think about anything.”
At age 24, Mary was one of 50,000 Kuki people who fled ethnic and religious violence in Manipur state, India. Like many others, Mary and her two young boys, ages 1 and 5, travelled south to seek refuge in the neighbouring state of Mizoram. She explains the journey: “It normally takes 12 or 15 hours to travel from Lamka (Manipur) to Aizawl (Mizoram), but for us, we were with my sister-in-law and there were 5 children and our vehicle was very crowded, and the children were vomiting. We took around 24 hours.”
Reunited with her husband the family now lives in a refugee complex in Mizoram, and feel a bit more secure. Donors like you helped our local church partner provide her family with emergency food donations, diapers, and baby formula. “They gave us everything. We were so grateful,” she says.
As the world becomes increasingly turbulent, stories like Mary’s are tragically becoming more common. But thanks to you, we are able to respond. You are providing love and hope to those in desperate need.
