Video: Samson and Sampinya

It had been 44 years since Samson and his uncle Sampinya left their home in Dite, Zimbabwe and headed across the Limpopo River into South Africa in search of better opportunities to be able to support their family.

With each year that passed, the Ndou family questioned whether they would ever find Sampinya. But when Samson heard about the ICRC’s Missing and Deceased Migrants Pilot Project which helps families in the search for the their missing relatives , he registered his uncle.

After months of searching, the ICRC’s Unita Ndou – who shares the same surname but is not related - was able to trace Sampinya to Badplaas in Mpumalanga – the north-eastern province of South Africa.