Every year a couple of weeks before the new school year
starts, schools up and down South Sudan register their students. Most schools offer places on a first-come,
first-served basis, regardless of whether the child was on roll at the school
before.
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| The bill for education at a government school |
We opened for registration last week intending to prioritise
those children who were on roll last year, but determined not to have more than
thirty children in a class so we can give them the best possible education. As the week went on it became clear that quite
a lot of our former pupils were not coming back. We faced the dilemma of giving their places
away to other, equally needy, children, or holding onto their places, unsure if
they would be returning. We have a new
Primary 2 class and were hoping to offer places to children who had attended
school before but were unable to continue due to lack of fees. In the event few children in that criteria
came. The vast majority have simply
never had any education at all.
Why were we in such an uncertain position? In late December the South Sudanese currency
(the SSP) was devalued by 85%. This has
caused exorbitant price rises for absolutely everything. This financial problem comes on top of
widespread crop failures due to drought during the rainy season. In short, people are starving.
It is only a short hop across the Ugandan border to the
nearest refugee camps, where the UN are supplying food and schooling free of
charge. The Nimule community have lived
their lives growing up in camps, returning home, fleeing back to the camps due
to war or famine, returning home, countless times. The cycle is continuing now so that a whole
new generation grows up in the same uncertain and hopeless way.
Having given up waiting for returners, this week we opened
the doors for new children. On Monday we
were flooded with ragged waifs with an age range of 5 to 16 who quickly filled
our two Primary 1 classes. There are still
12 empty places in the Primary 2 class with little sign that there will be
children to occupy those places.
Today, Tuesday, there were fresh floods of children but no
spaces in Primary 1 for them.
Fortunately I am in contact with another school in Nimule, which offers
free education for girls, funded by USAID, called the BRAC School. The BRAC School is aimed at girls who were
‘babysitters’ (local word for maid-of-all-work/slave-labour) or street
children. They are the only other school
of a similar sort to Cece in the town. I
called them. To my delight they have
spaces they are keen to fill. I was able
to signpost at least the girls in that direction. For other families I took names, in the hope
that we find we have space at a later date.
It is the most heart-breaking thing to say ‘no’ to these children, but
without the capacity to employ more teachers and build more classrooms, we had
no choice.
It was not all doom and gloom. One woman of about my age (old in South
Sudanese terms) came with a small boy and girl.
The girl is her grandchild, whose parents died of HIV, so she is the
sole carer. The little boy is an HIV
orphan without any known family. This
lady has HIV and is a counsellor with CECE for newly diagnosed HIV
patients. She took the child to the
police. The police handed the boy
straight back and said they could do nothing, ‘why not look after him
yourself?’ So she has looked after him
ever since. He was a small toddler at
the time and was not even able to tell her his name, so she has had to re-name
him herself. He is now five years old,
but the woman has no money for school fees for either of the children. I moved a boy, who may just manage in Primary
2 up a level, to make space for him.
Then I called the BRAC School who agreed to take the girl. At least, one happy ending. It is great to be able to liaise with a like-minded school. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship.
In the meantime we are closing our registration (unless
Primary 2 level children come into the office) and will focus on getting food,
bowls, exercise books and pencils for the start of term next week.
I am sure things will work out even if there are teething
problems at the start.
In the holidays, we found a potential donor for land for a
permanent school site. Assuming
negotiations go well, we hope to be in an entirely different position this time
next year. We are lobbying for funding
from NGOs so that we can move forward on a more secure footing, both physically
and financially.
For the moment we are entirely reliant on the funds I am
able to generate by writing to you, my friends.
As mentioned, costs have escalated dramatically. If you are able to pass on this post to
others, I would be most grateful. CECE
School really is a worthwhile cause.
Everything goes to the school, not to administration costs. The school runs on a shoestring so our
expenses are pure necessities. We need
to pay for exercise books, pencils, food, firewood (for cooking), wages for
teachers and cooks. It would be
wonderful if we could pay the staff more, because they are every bit as poor as
the children and need to feed their families.
The bank account details are Santander, account name: Ms R Mallinson, account number: 48996636, sort
code 09-01-28. Please make the reference
‘Cece School’.
