Twenty years in a Kenyan refugee camp could not keep John Anyieth and Daruka Ajang from achieving their dreams.
John and Daruka, both from South Sudan, have now lived in Tucson for more than two years. They and their four children live in an apartment. But soon, John and Daruka will have a Habitat Home, filled with the stability they missed for so long.
“We want to have our kids grow up in a home, and we don’t want to worry about paying rent,” John says. “Hopefully our new home will be peaceful.”
While peace may be hard to come by in house with four growing kids, love will definitely be there – within the family and from the Anyeith-Anjangs’ wonderful support system.
Daughter Diing is a competitive runner for the school, and also plays soccer and basketball. Son Anyar also loves sports, especially basketball and soccer. He’s a big LeBron James fan. Baby Agok, born in April 2013, continues to receive treatment for a hiatal hernia. Because of constant pain, Agok is only able to eat baby formula, and does not sleep much at night. John says Agok is scheduled to see a pediatric surgeon, and is hopeful surgery will be scheduled soon.
Daruka, who works as a caregiver and sometimes gets home late at night, is thankful for the support that her family receives from their Episcopal church in Tucson. “We have lots of people from our church helping us with Agok and his hospital visits,” she says.
John works at Costco in the merchandising department. He is ready to have a home that is his own.
“When it comes to paying the mortgage payments, we’ll pay on time and work hard to pay it off,” John says.