There are rows upon rows of tents. Standing on higher ground, the white tarps are visible almost as far as the eye can see. It’s only when I begin winding my way through them that I begin to see the realities of war.

Nearly 113,000 people who have been displaced because of the conflict are now living in United Nations protection camps.  Some are trying to go about daily chores. A woman and a boy are using an axe to hack meat off the bones of a cow. Toddlers are running around seemingly alone, many of them dirty, flies pitching on their often naked bodies. A group of older children sit on a blanket playing cards. They have nothing to do. They cannot leave.

Within five days of the crisis in December, 2013, tens of thousands flooded into UN bases fearing for their lives. Their living conditions are unimaginable but without exception they tell me at least they are safe and almost everyone smiles as I walk by. Children rush to touch me, grasping my hand as is the South Sudanese way. They don’t speak English but they all shout, “How are you?” with perfect pronunciation. It’s the only phrase they know.

Then we meet Rebecca Nyaboth. She is here alone, her children in another state that is now controlled by rebels. Speaking through a translator she tells me that is the most difficult part for her.

“I don’t even know whether they are alive or not,” she says.

She has not heard from them since the fighting began 13 months ago.

“This is a temporary solution. This is not sustainable,” says UNMISS spokesperson, Ariane Quentier. “Ultimately, what we want to do to protect these people is to ensure that they can go back to their place of origin, or that they can go back to their homes, or rebuild their homes in South Sudan with conditions that will be safe for them to go back home and not to have to flee again the danger.”

But there is no timeline for such safety and only hope for peace.