Currently, we are in the process of building a new vocational school and supporting three projects in South Sudan.
The center
coming soon…
ImpactAVillage funded Malek Primary School in Bor, South Sudan with the direction of Deng Jongkuch, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. The elders of the village agreed to donate and clear the land for the school in addition to having villagers help with the construction. Under the direction of a contractor hired by ImpactAVillage, the villagers cleared the land, dug the foundation, made bricks from cement and sand, and built the walls of the school. All the materials for the school including cement, lumber, rebar, and roofing material were purchased by ImpactAVillage. The 5-room school house was completed in 2010 and holds more than 700 students. The cost for the school was about $25,000 which was raised by generous donations to ImpactAVillage. Books, uniforms and teachers were also funded by ImpactAVillage.
The school, a ten classroom, two-building structure, has a freshman class of 64 ninth grade students. Now in 2019, the twelfth year of operation, the student body has grown to 350 students. HRSS provides a high quality education and daily lunch to 100 girls and 250 boys. The school has successfully graduated eight classes.
The school's academic year runs from March until December with a three week break in August. The school's permanent structure allows classes to continue through the rainy season. Textbooks and school supplies are provided for each student and classes are led by university-trained teachers from South Sudan and Uganda. Students are empowered to become leaders in their communities. Quality secondary education is a true luxury in South Sudan, especially in rural areas.
In addition to providing strong academics, HRSS is committed to teaching gender equity and peace reconciliation. Educating girls in a co-ed environment that promotes gender equality is convincing young South Sudanese women of their created value, and teaching young South Sudanese men that girls are their equals as they compete with them in the classroom. It is changing the cultural norms. These changes are helping to end the practice of early child marriage.
HRSS addition of a girls' dormitory built in 2013, allows the female students a safe environment to remain in school. It has made a real difference in the girls' academic performance! The girls are now performing academically as well as the boys. Gender equality is critical to developing the nation.
In addition to providing a quality learning environment, HRSS also provides a daily nutritious lunch of rice and beans so that our students are well-equipped to learn and perform. This is likely to be many students only meal for the day. (Currently, as many as 7.5 million people, nearly two in every three people in South Sudan are food insecure, according to the UN Humanitarian Overview in 2016.)
With a hot meal, textbooks, a permanent structure and trained teachers, students are provided a safe and focused learning environment. We need your support to continue to provide an exceptional and unique education for the youth of this region and to expand the daily nutritious lunch by adding fruits and vegatables.
CONFIDENT CHILDREN OUT OF CONFLICT(CCC)
When civil war broke out in Juba in July 2016 spread to Yei. The situation was unpredictable as to what would happen next. Insecurity was rampant, reports of gender based violence, recruitment of boys by armed factions were widely covered in the news. The economy was down and girls were being given for marriage in return for bride prices so that families could survive. This raised fresh concerns about safety, education and future of the former street girls at CCC in Juba who were rescued in 2007. This raised fresh concerns about safety of former street girls at CCC in Juba. It was happening all over again. These girls had made so such stride towards a brighter future through education; and it was their only hope for the future, now not taken for granted. Cathy did not want any set backs. Another concern was the life of children who needed continued specialized medical care was at stake. Schools ware disrupted, health services unreliable. Although these children were reaching the normal (18 years) age of reintegration back into community, these former street children had no community to go back to. By the end of 10 years of care, more than 50% of the cohort of girls from the streets of Juba, from Konyokonyo market and the Juba cemetery, one or both of their parents had died. Most do not have any family and would land in the hands of abusers often also subjected to domestic violence.
In 2017 Cathy relocated from Juba to Kampala with a former staff Yunia Muhenge to established a program in Uganda that would support these South Sudanese vulnerable girls so that they can continue with secondary education in boarding schools having a place to stay during schools’ holidays where they revise their books, access to life saving medical services stay safe and prepare for school the next term.
Alongside with education, children at CCC in Uganda are supported to become pass exams, learn a vocational skill and become independent. We ensure that the older girls who have younger siblings are not separated. We therefore support the young siblings to attend school in boarding as well. Through our devoted friends and supporters we enabled 4 children to access life changing plastic surgery and medical care. , engaging youth and women’s groups in awareness-raising activities with regard to gender-based violence and child protection concerns.
In Uganda we are part of a consortium of civil society where we participate in raising awareness on protection and education of children with emphasis on girls, women and refugees. We lobby and raise awareness on corpral punishment. We also provide vocational training skills
CCC in Uganda is inspired by Christian compassion to take care of the needs of the most vulnerable children, youth and women in society, as in (Matthew 25:35-45) by commitment to community participation and development, and by passion to advocate for the rights of vulnerable children and youth, through partnerships.