I pride myself in being called 'the Mother of Widows'.

Rachael Nyadak Paul (37) was born in Malakal, Sudan. She was Secretary in the Women's Desk of the Presbyterian Church of the Sudan (PCOS) in Akobo. Through her work in South Sudan with PCOS, she has supported women and the facilitation of their leadership training after the backlash of the civil war. Rachael’s major efforts are centered on issues like women's empowerment and networking, migrant work conditions and peace building.

Rachael was raised in a Christian family in South Sudan. Her father worked as a Pastor with the Presbyterian Church of the Sudan (PCOS) Akobo. After receiving her early education in South Sudan she obtained a certificate in Public Administration from Port Harre University, South Africa. In 1996 she volunteered to work in the women's desk of the PCOS. Later, the General Assembly of the PCOS elected her to work officially in that position from 2001 onward. Rachael is involved in many activities concerning women's empowerment and networking, migrants' and peace building issues. Her achievements in peace promotion are spectacular, as she participated in concluding a peace agreement between North and South Sudan, ending the longest phase of civil war in recent history. Her motivation for peace work comes from her awareness of its significance and from the terrible impacts of war upon her personal life. She lost her husband in the North-South war while she was still young. The only compensation for this, she believes, is to put more effort into peace work so that the Sudanese families can live in peace together. She traveled across the Sudan, particularly in the South, to raise peoples' awareness of the devastation that civil war brings to the Sudanese people. She knows that many women have lost their husbands or their loved ones in the war and always presents her exemplum to show how war can make people’s life a misery. As a result she is called "Mother of Widows". Rachael works voluntarily in a vulnerable war zone, facing lots of difficulties.

Presbyterian Church of the Sudan (PCOS)