‘When you are parted from your children you are not whole’: Watch the joyful moment two tiny sisters see their mother for the first time in TWO YEARS after they were ripped ...

It was the moment Grace Anzoa feared she would never see – and so when she was finally reunited her daughters after nearly two years of anguished separation, the tears flowed.

Clutching six-year-old Rebecca and Abi, five, to her, she whispered her love for them – and relief that finally they were together again. 

Promising to never leave them again, she squeezed each in turn as tears rolled too down their young dust-stained cheeks. 

Grace Anzoa believed she would never see her children Rebecca, six, and Abi, five, after they were separated for nearly two years during fighting in South Sudan

Tears flowed during the joyful reunion between mother Grace and her two daughters,  as neighbours and friends gathered round to show their delight

Around her friends shouted their delight and excitement at the reunion that had lifted Grace and her family from what she called ‘a nightmare’ of uncertainty and fear that her girls were dead or had been injured, the victims of marauding militiamen.

It is a nightmare experienced by tens of thousands of families torn apart by the brutal civil war in South Sudan that has seen more than 2.3 million people driven from their homes. 

The extraordinary, emotional reunion in a suburb swelled by refugees of South Sudan’s capital Juba was the result of painstaking work by the British-based charity Save the Children – and was made possible with the help of a sophisticated database of the missing and separated. 

Known as CPIMS (Child Protection Information Management System), it allows aid workers to digitally share information, intelligence, photographs and family details of separated children in reception centres and settlements in South Sudan and, especially neighbouring countries, to improve the likelihood of tracing families and reunifying them. 

Nearly 4,000 children have been reunited with their families in the past two years by Save the Children, UNICEF and partners but in South Sudan alone there are an estimated 8,500 children separated from parents – and many more in neighbouring Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan. 

The extraordinary reunion, in a suburb of the South Sudan capital Juba, was thanks to British-based charity Save the Children

Tens of thousands of families are living through a similar nightmare, separated from their families by fighting in the country's brutal civil war

The reunion that had lifted Grace and her family from what she called a 'nightmare’ of uncertainty and fear

Grace had managed to escape the gunfire with her children, but had returned home when she realised her 13-year-old brother wasn't with them - and became separated from her daughters

As thousands continue to flee the turmoil, MailOnline travelled to South Sudan’s borders and the vast frontline settlements of fleeing families to hear the stories of those separated and witness the painstaking – sometimes heartbreaking – work to reunite children torn apart from their parents. 

Like so many separated when civil war imploded in 2013 in the world’s youngest nation, Grace and her daughters had ‘lost’ one another when they fled nearly two years ago after their village in the country’s north east was stormed by gunmen torching houses and shooting terrified villagers. 

Amid the chaos and gunfire, Grace, who was in her mid-twenties, had escaped with her children but gone back to their home when she realised her 13-year-old brother was not with them. 

She arranged a rendezvous point on a river bank with her mother, Mary, who was with Rebecca and Abi. But as the fighting intensified, Grace became cut-off from her mother and daughters. 

They waited two days for her but with fighting closing in on their hiding place, they had to flee again. 

Eventually, the girls and Mary reached the safety of the north eastern village Waat where their Nuer tribe was safe. 

Grace still had to endure more fighting, fleeing a town where massacres were taking place and more than 200 civilians died in a mosque before reaching the safety of Juba. 

There were reports of women being raped and burnt alive. 

Neither knew if the other was dead or alive but Mary registered Rebecca and Abi with Save the Children at one of their 60 centres in the hope that Grace, if still alive, could be traced.

Grace recalled: ‘I did not know if the children were OK. I had bad dreams about it, sometimes nightmares. I was only praying to God to bless them until we met again. 

‘We had never been separated before, the children do not have a father and I am their mother and father.’ 

When Grace returned to the spot she had planned to meet her children, they had already been forced to flee the violence accompanied by her mother

She didn't see them again for nearly two years. But then, late last year, the news came that Save The Children had managed to locate her daughters

She said she was like a ‘mad person’ her mind drifting as she thought – and worried – about Rebecca and Abi. 

‘I did not know if they were dead or alive,’ Grace said, ‘If you don’t have your children with you, you are not a whole person. I was so worried.’ 

Grace said she ‘searched and searched’, asking for information from other displaced families as they passed through Juba.

Each time, the answer was the same, ‘sorry, we had no information.’ 

Then, late last year, came the news that she had longed-for and she was instructed to go the Save the Children’s office in Juba. 

There, she was put on the telephone to her own mother Mary – and daughters Rebecca and Abi. 

‘I heard about my children and was so happy I didn’t sleep because of my happiness,’ she added. 

The disbelieving youngsters were shown a photograph of the mother they had not seen for two years. 

Their faces broke into huge smiles of delight. Chronicling the build-up to the wonderful moment of reunion was Save the Children photographer and cameraman Jonathan Hyams, who filmed as Rebecca and Abi – the family’s names have been changed – flew by helicopter to Juba and then by four-wheel drive to meet their mother. 

It was the climax of months of hard work by the charity’s team in helping to trace the families of thousands of separated children from parents since civil war broke out in South Sudan when President Salva Kiir, accused his one-time vice-president, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup.

The disbelieving youngsters were shown a photograph of the mother they had not seen for two years. Their faces broke into huge smiles of delight

Save The Children child protection officer, Bol Nyuol, visits Rebecca and Abi at their grandmother's house in Waat, Jonglei state, South Sudan, where they were living after being separated from their mother

Approximately 65 per cent of refugees and internally displaced people are children, while 12 per cent are separated from or unaccompanied by their parents and carers

What started as a power struggle emanating from the capital, Juba, spread alarmingly with the country’s 64 tribes taking sides.

The latest peace deal was signed in August but fighting has continued with more than 10,000 people killed. 

The sheer scale of the challenge faced by aid agencies is illustrated in South Sudan’s neighbours such as Uganda where Mail Online watched as hundreds of people – many of them children – arrived across the border at the sprawling settlements that house tens of thousands. 

Approximately 65% of refugees and internally displaced people are children while 12% are separated from or unaccompanied by their parents and carers. 

South Sudan is officially the worst place in the world to be a child and talking to the children, their mothers and aid workers on the frontlines of the refugee influx in northern Uganda – up to 500 are arriving a day – it is easy to understand why.

Two children told us how eight grandmothers, all over 65 years old, had been too weak and slow to escape to the bush when gunmen arrived in their village. All were raped. 

Boys spoke of how they are being kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers – only a ransom paid in cows can save them.

Others told of homes being set ablaze with families inside. Gunmen wait outside and open fire as women and children try to escape.

In the reception centre of 4,000 refugees at Nyumanzi, 350 miles north of Uganda’s capital Kampala but just 12 miles from the South Sudan border, we watched nearly 200 new arrivals from the border as they clambered out of crowded trucks clutching their tragic few belongings and gulping down water to provide some comfort from temperatures topping 35 degrees.

Rebecca, six, peers out the window of a helicopter as she travel's with her sister Abi, five, and Save the Children to Juba to be reunified with her mother Grace

Save the Children's Family Tracing and Reunification case worker accompanies Rebecca, six and Abi, five, in a helicopter as they travel to Juba

Children are placed with carefully chosen and vetted foster parents from their own tribe, each supported and monitored by the charity

South Sudan is officially the worst place in the world to be a child and talking to the children, their mothers and aid workers on the frontlines of the refugee influx in northern Uganda it is easy to understand why

For the children separated from their loved ones, attempts to trace the family begin as soon as they reach the reception centre where Save the Children screens each unaccompanied child.

Of 8,700 unaccompanied or separated children to have reach Uganda, the charity has reunited over 4,000 with their families in South Sudan.

This is partly due to a management database developed for aid agencies that uses bigger clearer photos than the type of photo enabled by phones and isn't as reliant on regular internet. 

A tent at the entrance of the giant Nyumanzi centre is often the first port of call for a child. Here, their photograph and known personal details such as a parent’s name are registered and sent to a central data base. 

Children are placed with carefully chosen and vetted foster parents from their own tribe, each supported and monitored by the charity. 

Save the Children’s Gemma Parkin said: ‘Tracing families might sound simple but when millions of people are displaced it’s a huge task.

'It’s an investigation, into what happened to the parents, and tragically because we’re working in war zones, often the parents may be dead.

'Even if the parents are alive, the children may have no idea where they are, because they are too young to remember names of roads or towns or are too traumatised to speak and too frightened to remember.

‘If the relatives have been found, judgements have to be made about whether to return children to unsafe areas or villages where there is little or no food. 

'Judgements also have to be made about whether children can safely be allowed to choose where they live and what to do if their choice is not the same as that of their relatives. 

'It’s extremely complicated, painstaking, involving a lot of checking and double checking, in countries where there’s hardly ever access to the internet. 

Rebecca, six, sits with her sister Abi, five, at their grandmother's home in Waat, Jonglei state, South Sudan

What started as a power struggle emanating from the capital, Juba, spread alarmingly with the country’s 64 tribes taking sides - creating the current violent civil war

After walking for days in the heat, the children arrive in settlements around Adjumani, in northern Uganda where British charity Save the Children works to help provide emergency support

These children were forced to walk to the border of South Sudan and Uganda, with their disabled mother, to escape the horror of the South Sudan civil war

Food is prepared for refugees in the Nyumanzi reception centre in Uganda, in giant vats but they are grateful for any basic provisions

Girls in South Sudan are more likely to die in childbirth than finish school because such a large percentage are forced to marry at such a young age

Save the Children is working to teach how to make traditional mud bricks and helping families build houses in their new settlements

‘Tracing, or searching for a family, often means setting off into the unknown, in Land Rovers, trekking across mountains on mules, walking for days and coming back with no news or bad news.

'The frontline teams deal with anguish and uncertainty every day, often in very dangerous places. The pay-off is the joyous satisfaction of bringing families safely back together.' 

She added: ‘It used to be much harder to trace families, in the days when you’d stick a poster up on a notice board of a town hall or hospital, with a picture of a missing child, hoping that someone locally would recognise them. 

'Now all we need is a mobile phone to photograph and register a missing child or parent on a central database. 

‘When families are reunited it’s one of the most amazing things in the world. But even recalling the time spent apart, the children can cry just thinking about it. 

'These are the lucky families, the survivors, making up for lost time, doing what they can to rebuild their lives.' 

'I was sure my children would be dead': Mother-of-six reveals the horror of being separated from her children by gun-wielding militia... and the joy of being reunited  

Yar was at the market when the gunmen brought chaos and carnage to her home city of Bor in the heart of south Sudan. 

The 30-year-old mother of six had said goodbye to the children, leaving them with a neighbour before beginning the 15 minute walk to the marketplace to buy food. 

That was December 2013 and she was not to see them again for two desperate years during which she feared they had been killed – and they, in turn, thought she was dead, another of the hundreds who died in the fighting that raged in and around Bor. 

Yar, a mother of six, left her children in the care of a neighbour before walking the 15 minutes to market. But she didn't see her children against for two desperate years

Yar's children were separated from their mother when they were forced to flee gunmen who had entered their village. Pictured, Yar's eight-year-old son Gai

When the shooting began, Yar tried to return home to her children - but she was stopped by officials. Pictured, Yar and her six children with some of their neighbours in the Awerial IDP camp

With civil war still gripping the country, both the children and Yar registered with Save the Children in an attempt to trace what had happened to the family

After two years, Yar received the joyful news that her children had been found alive and well, and they would soon be reunited

Yar’s eight-year-old son Gai recalled : ‘I remember when we were separated from our mother. We were with a neighbour when we heard the shooting. The neighbour took our hand and we ran, ran, ran to the river. 

‘We heard gunshots…saw people being shot and killed around us. I saw many dead people, there were dead in the river. 

‘We were with many people crowded on a boat. I was sure my mother had been killed as well.

‘To this day, I remember the shooting. I have nightmares. People died, I thought our mother had died and we were going to die too.’ 

Yar’s feelings were equally anguished. She said that when the shooting began she tried to return home to her children – their father is dead – but was stopped by officials.

‘I was attacked and began to walk towards Juba, the capital. It was the only chance to survive. I walked for seven days,’ she said.

‘On the way I saw many people being murdered and I was sure my children would be dead, just like their father. 

‘I was terribly frightened they were dead. I felt I had nothing more to live for and did not know how to go on.’

It is a story that mirrors so many in South Sudan and in the bleak months that followed, with civil war still gripping the country, both the children and Yar had been registered with Save the Children in an attempt – they believed would be futile – to trace what had happened to the family. 

Despite the horror stories there is genuine laughter and happiness in Nyumanzi, northern Uganda, where Save the Children run both a safe play area and basic schools 

Playing games and having some semblance of a childhood is a crucial part of the process of overcoming their terrifying experiences. The staff notice a difference even within a week, where children start to trust again 

Boys and girls who should be learning their alphabet are caring for younger siblings as they wait in hope to be reunited with their parents. Mobile technology is improving the way the authorities can trace missing family members

Children who have been parted from their parents are damaged for the long term. When families are reunited it’s one of the most amazing things in the world, says Save the Children. But even recalling the time spent apart, the children cry just thinking about it

Gunmen have kidnapped boys and forced them to fight in South Sudan's brutal civil war

Children describe how they were woken up by gunfire and ran to hide in the bush, often separated from their families in South Sudan, the world's youngest nation which is now riven with conflict

For nearly two years there was nothing but then thanks to the UK-based charity’s meticulous work, a ‘match’ was found and the news they had prayed for delivered.

‘I remember the day I got the call telling me the children were alive,’ Yar said. 

‘My heart almost stopped and I felt like I was flying. My heart beat so fast. Save the Children then organised for the reunification.'

She continued: ‘The children came towards me and we hugged and hugged and hugged. 

‘Now I am reunited I am happy and a whole person again.’ 

Gai added: ‘For months without my mother I felt no happiness, when we finally met her again, we were incredibly happy.’