Expanding the School for Orphans and Unaccompanied Minors
As we go to press, we are excited to share with you that the children in the School for Orphans and Unaccompanied Minors are back in class!
When the Government of South Sudan ordered all schools to close in March 2020 to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 to children and teachers, Bishop John Gatteck decided to turn the situation into an opportunity to grow the School for Orphans and Unaccompanied Minors at the UN Protection of Civilians (POC3) camp near Juba. Until now, the eight grades were taught together in two classrooms. Together with the teachers and staff, and with the financial support of AFRECS, Bishop Gatteck organized the refurbishment of the existing school facilities and the construction of new classrooms in order to enable the School to grow from its current 150 students to over 350 students.
The School opened in January 2017 to provide education to girls and boys in the UN POC3 camp who had lost one or both parents during the civil strife that had caused tens of thousands to flee their homes. The children are taught English, Math, Social Studies and Science, and each child receives a meal a day. Over 90% of the children pass their annual final exams, and the School recently ranked near the top among schools in the area for students’ scores on standardized exams. There is great demand in the POC3 camp for more children to be able to attend the School, but without building additional classrooms and feeding facilities, there was little room to grow. Upon completion of the five buildings under construction, the School will be able to increase the number of children it teaches and feeds.
In the current environment, it is also important to address the health challenge of Covid-19, particularly in the UN camps where thousands live close together. The School teachers have been working with UN authorities to teach children and others about proper health practices to try to avoid Covid-19. Thus far, POC3 has largely avoided major outbreaks of the disease. With gatherings prohibited, classes are being taught by radio, but few students have access to radio receivers.
One person affected by the School is Mary Nyabil, a 42 year-old single parent of three young boys. Like many other women in South Sudan, she lost her husband and her home, and has no means of financial support. Unable to walk since birth, she was transported to POC3 by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Her three children have been integrated into the School, where they are being taught and receive a daily meal. Mary recently shared with us that, despite her difficulties, her “only hope always was for my children to be in school knowing that education is important them. I’m very delighted for AFRECS for they’re helping children get education.”
AFRECS has been privileged to serve as the primary financial supporter for the School, and to support the dedicated efforts of Bishop Gatteck and other leaders of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, including the Primate Archbishop Justin Badi Arama, to grow the School.
Please consider a generous gift to help us complete the new school buildings. Your donation now will enable us to expand our Education and Meals Ministry to an ever-growing number of girls and boys who hunger to be part of it. Please indicate on your check, or your donation on the AFRECS website, if you would like your contribution to be designated to the “POC3 School”. And thank you for your support!
Killing and Rape of Civilians Necessitates Work of Education and Trauma Healing
The Episcopal Church of South Sudan continues its work of education and trauma healing against a backdrop of tragic events. An American military historian and ethnographer is questioning why there has so far been no investigation of the crime of genocide occurring in South Sudan over the five years beginning December 2013.
Clémence Pinaud, of the University of Indiana’s Department of International Studies, has interviewed 215 Nuer women in Unity State and 110 women in Central Equatoria State who witnessed gang rapes of civilians by combatants. Her interviewees included 28 survivors of rape. Their detailed testimony to the killing of husbands and children, as well as the raping and killing of women, leads Pinaud to conclude that the perpetrators’ persistent intent is to destroy a feared or hated ethnic group – a key provision of the1948 United Nations Convention on the Crime of Genocide. (“Genocidal Rape in South Sudan: Organization, Function, and Effects,” Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 42, August 2020.)
South Sudanese Woman Receives Peace Prize
The U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent US Government agency, last month awarded its Women Building Peace Award 2020 to Rita M. Lopidia, a South Sudanese civil society leader. Lopidia is Executive Director and Co-founder of Eve Organization for Women Development. She will use the $10,000 prize money to invest in her “incubator” project to encourage young women leaders, as well as providing some funds to orphans and street children in Juba. Rita Lopidia has participated in peace talks in Addis Ababa and Khartoum. She signed the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R/ARCSS) on behalf of the South Sudanese Women Coalition for Peace, a group of 50 women’s organizations.
