MUNDRI, South Sudan (AP) — Joy Falatiya recounted that in March 2024, her husband forced her and their five children to leave their home, leaving her devastated. At 35, this South Sudanese mother found herself homeless and without money, contemplating ending her life.

“I thought about taking my children and jumping into the river,” she shared while holding a baby outside a small room with cracked mud walls, which is her current shelter.

However, months later, she has made an incredible recovery, with the help of kind-hearted individuals and a nearby mental health clinic where she has been receiving counseling since April.

She informed The Associated Press that after months of psycho-social therapy, her suicidal thoughts have disappeared, although she still faces challenges in feeding her children and lacks the means to keep them in school.

The specialized clinic in her hometown of Mundri, located in South Sudan’ s Western Equatoria state, is a rare and vital facility in a nation that urgently needs more such services. With its funding from Italian and Greek sources about to run out, the future of this program is uncertain.