South Sudan's Missionary Nuns Stand Their Ground Amidst Violence, Threats And Trauma

South Sudan's Missionary Nuns Stand Their Ground
A group of South Sudanese chant at a demonstration held in support of President Salva Kiir and against "foreign encroachment" in Juba, South Sudan Monday, March 10, 2014. Arabic on placard reads "No foreigners are allowed to intervene". The rally participants marched through the city on Monday and shouted slogans of support for President Salva Kiir while also denouncing Hilde Johnson, the top U.N. official in the country, accusing Johnson of supplying arms to rebels fighting South Sudan's government. (AP Photo/Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin)
A group of South Sudanese chant at a demonstration held in support of President Salva Kiir and against "foreign encroachment" in Juba, South Sudan Monday, March 10, 2014. Arabic on placard reads "No foreigners are allowed to intervene". The rally participants marched through the city on Monday and shouted slogans of support for President Salva Kiir while also denouncing Hilde Johnson, the top U.N. official in the country, accusing Johnson of supplying arms to rebels fighting South Sudan's government. (AP Photo/Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin)

Rumbek, South Sudan - Nuns in South Sudan know a thing or two about war. "We learned fast with the bullets whistling past our ears," said Sister Barbara Paleczny, chuckling at the memory of her younger self when she moved here five years ago.

Paleczny, 70, a teacher with the Rome-based NGO Solidarity with South Sudan, has lived in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. But it's the city of Malakal - where civil war has raged in recent months - that she calls home.

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