Name: Kenyi Chaplain Paul
Age: 43
Location: Juba, although my family lives in Kajo Keji, near the border with Uganda.
Does your spouse/partner live with you? No.
What is your primary job? Daytime security guard
What is your monthly salary? 600 South Sudanese pounds (SSP) (US$143 at the unofficial rate of exchange) 
What is your household’s total income - including your partner’s salary, and any additional same sources? Paul’s wife raises pigs in Kajo Keji, but she has recently suffered a setback. 
How many people are living in your household - what is their relationship to you? Twelve in Kajo Keji: 10 children - aged 19 months to 18 years, Paul’s wife and his nephew, who is now 17 and now lives with him in Juba.
How many are dependent on you/your partner's income - what is their relationship to you? 13 family members.
How much do you spend each month on food? 100 SSP ($23.80)
What is your main staple - how much does it cost each month?N/A
How much do you spend on rent? I am going to have to move out of free accommodation and find a room to rent
How much do you spend on educating your children each month?The (school) has increased (fees) from 300 SSP ($71) to 450 SSP ($107)
After you have paid all your bills each month, how much is left? I keep (100 SSP, $24) in case of emergencies, but now, if I get a house, I will have to use it (to pay rent).
Have you or any member of the household been forced to skip meals or reduce portion sizes in the last three months? They (the family) had to reduce (what they eat).
When he last spoke to IRIN he was occasionally working as a car-washer to supplement his monthly salary of 600 South Sudanese pounds (SSP) (US$158). He does not do that anymore. He has also lost the free house he used to live in - his uncle, who owns it, is refurbishing it for renters.
“My uncle wants to put the house up [for] rent. He’s plastering it, and then giving it to someone to rent it… I won’t be able to afford to pay it [the rent]. It might be 500 SSP [$132]. It’s a large room. I will have to look for a cheaper house in which I would rent.”
Paul’s nephew, who is now 17, finished his education and now lives with him in the city. His wife and 10 children live 100km away, in the town of Kajo Keji.
“The [school] has increased [school fees] from 300 SSP [$79] to 450 SSP [$118]. I think the other fee is for teacher’s welfare, as the teachers need to have their meals in the school.
“I keep [100 SSP, $26] in case of emergencies, but now, if I get a house, I will have to use it [to pay rent].”
His wife raises pigs in Kajo Keji, but she has recently suffered a setback.
“The other pigs were taken away because they ate someone’s plantation [crops] in the neighborhood. She has two remaining, and now they have produced kids. I think she will be selling [them] soon, in some months to come.
“It has affected [us] very much, because sometimes, when she [would] sell them… out of that money, we would be saving for [emergencies]. She sold all the other pigs [to compensate the farm owner], and she was left with nothing.
“There was a change. Sometimes I used to get some money for buying books out of that money. Now, we don’t have any money for those.
“They [the family] had to reduce [what they eat].
“One of the boys developed a swelling, and he has not gone to school since. Now he can walk, so he’s preparing that, this coming term, he will go back to school.
“I talked to the headmaster of the other, better school, and he advised… sending whatever is necessary for the girls so that they can continue [attending] because one of my girls is the best in the school. She is in the top, so they are assisting very much and she should continue in that school.
“I pay all, but if I have not paid money for school fees, they do not send them home. My debt continues to accumulate there.
“With [all] those setbacks, it seems worse, but I’m getting used to it now. But is has demoralized me completely. By then [in December], I was progressing. I thought that business… would push me up so that I don’t have any problems.
“I thought that by setting up [a business for my wife] to have some funds, I would be saving and could push us ahead.”
hm/ko/rz
*Using unofficial exchange rate as of 26 June 2013 (4.2 SSP to US$1)
< December 2012
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
