I’ve been an educator for nearly 10 years, so I’ve long felt passionate about education. Newer to me is an understanding of the impact a school can have in a place like southern Sudan. There, a school can be an anchor for an entire community. People will actually pick up and move to be near a school.
I began to understand this in 2009, when I traveled to southern Sudan with a woman named Judy Maves, and a young man in Atlanta, Ngor Kur Mayol. I’ve learned more as I’ve become friends with James Lubo Mijak, a Charlotte resident. Both came to the United States in 2001 as “Lost Boys of Sudan,” and both inspire me to serve as a catalyst for the Raising Sudan project.
Before that trip, I never saw myself trying to make a difference in Africa. But I had a God-given moment. I saw the film “Lost Boys of Sudan” and knew I had to do something. The film tells the story of 30,000 young people orphaned and displaced to refugee camps by one of the longest-running civil wars in Africa, as well as the select 3,000-plus granted special permission to come to the U.S. in 2001.
James and Ngor were among them. Both of them promised: one day, they would make a difference to their villages – James to Nyarweng, and Ngor to Aliap, in Ruweng County, Unity State, southern Sudan. Neither village has even one permanent primary school; 90 percent of adults can’t read. The villages also don’t have a lot of other things, but I’ve heard over and over about the hunger for education above all.
Next year, 2011, will be the 10th anniversary of Lost Boys coming to the U.S. – after years spent surviving in refugee camps. Anniversaries are times of renewal. Churches, community groups and individuals supported Lost Boys in the transition to live here. I’m hopeful people will support James’s and Ngor’s dream of helping their former communities there.
Working through Mothering Across Continents, we’ve researched, planned and pored over budgets. Our primary school model will serve 300+ children in each village, with four classrooms, water source, eight latrines and teacher accommodations. The start-up cost for each school is $150,000. Nothing fancy. Solid. Permanent. Appropriate to surroundings.
As exciting as the dream itself is the collaboration underway. I helped start a 501c3 non-profit “Sudan Rowan” and then became a Guiding Coalition member of Mothering Across Continents. James (far left) and Ngor are working together, committed to both schools and helping other Lost Boys build schools in the future. Many would like to, but it really takes a support system around you to raise the funds.
Between April and July 2010, we raised $38,000 in donations and pledges. So, we know we have work to do! But James and Ngor taught me a great saying in their native Dinka language: Lec tene Nhialic. Ku lec tene koc e koc kuony e ping nom. (Thanks be to God. And thanks be to people in the world who help others.)
I hope you’ll join us on this journey of transition from the the hardship of the past to hope for the future.
Warmly,
Karen Puckett
