The school term is now well underway. We were inundated with families arriving
desperate for school places at the beginning of term. This is understandable as Cece is the only
non-fee paying school in Nimule. The
need is bottomless. Coupled with this, we
are short of teachers because two teachers have had to leave for Uganda for
various domestic reasons.
The local education office has stipulated that all primary
teachers must be qualified or have reached Senior 4 level (equivalent of GCSE
level). This is sensible, but not easy
to achieve due to the generally poor standard of education in South Sudan. A major challenge is that some international
NGOs have been enticing qualified teachers from Nimule to teach in refugee
camps across the border in Uganda at greatly enhanced rates of pay. This has left all schools, not just ours, very
short staffed.
We have managed to recruit one replacement teacher. The new teacher, Peace, and one of our
original teachers, Sabina, were both trained by the Jesuit Refugee Service who
were active in Nimule in the 1990s. When
the JRS is mentioned, people’s faces light up with memories of how they helped
provide skills and training at a time when the locals were being terrorised by
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and Arab aerial bombardment. Sabina and Peace were officially trained in
teaching adult literacy, but their training was so thorough that they can teach
anybody, young or old.
I have been delighted to find how well the majority of my
class from last year have retained their previous lessons and are speaking and
understanding increasing amounts of English.
They are also starting to read. However
quite a few of last year’s intake left for the refugee camps due to food
shortages over the holiday period and we have a lot of new faces who have
replaced them.
Of those who have officially reached P2 level in other
schools, all are actually at beginner level with no oral, written or number
skills at all. They can recognise the
alphabet but cannot read. Such is the
level of teaching in most schools here, fees not withstanding. However the majority have never attended
school before and are in P1.
In the new P2 class one new boy stands out, literally, as he
is the tallest in the class. He is around
fifteen years old, with some spoken English.
He suffers from epilepsy, untreated because of lack of money. Before the money ran out he was in P2 in
another school, but was unable to sit his exams due to epileptic fits, which I
am sure were due to exam nerves. In
spite of his spoken English he cannot read or write at all. Last week he mastered writing his name. He was overjoyed, to the point of staying
behind after school to write his name again and again on the blackboard with a
wide smile on his face. It is children
like him who so urgently need to catch up on an education and have a chance in
life. I have taken some very quick
training from a local nurse in what to do if he has a fit and have passed on
that training to the other teachers too.
We are now feeding 90 children at break time. Our new teacher Peace commented on how
disciplined the children are. Apparently
in her previous school, there was always a scrum as the children all tried to be
first for the porridge. The teachers did
not involve themselves at all in organising the children. At Cece, we make the children line up to say
grace and then wash their hands in order of size, smallest first. Then they join a second queue to be served
porridge by the eldest children.
Children who push in are sent to the back of the line. Then they all sit down to eat together. Peace was very impressed. She could see immediately how important this
queuing system is for orphaned children who have very little adult guidance or
discipline in their lives, so that they can develop into civilised members of
society.
At lunch time we all go home. After lunch and a siesta during the heat of
the day, I go to the Cece office where we (myself together with HUMAES and Cece
staff) are busily planning for the future of the school. We are trying to secure funding for the
construction of a new school on land donated by a local village community. We are hoping to do all the building work
during this academic year, ready for 2017.
If all goes according to plan there will be a small Primary 3 class next
year. Also, as I have seen in this
year’s desperation for registration at the school, the demand for Primary 1 is
so big that it would be a huge benefit to have an additional P1 class. All this will not be possible in our current
building due to lack of space.
In the meantime there are still ongoing school expenses
which must be met, such as staff wages, food and maintenance of the current
building. We have had problems since
December due to a shortage of dollars in the bank and increased sanctions
against South Sudan. The South Sudanese
Pound has been devalued by 85% causing hyper-inflation. As a result the bank exchange rate for South
Sudanese Pounds is extremely poor and it is important to receive money in a
stable currency, the dollar.
We have just opened a dollar account across the border in
Uganda, so we can avoid all these problems.
I am hoping that an added benefit will be the ability to fundraise more
directly through supporters in various countries, rather than relying solely on
friends in the UK.
If you are outside the UK and want to support Cece Primary
School, the account details are as follows:
Uganda: Equity Bank,
Adjumani, Uganda. Account name: Anyanzo
Charles Jacob. Account number:
1019100855333. SWIFT code: EQBLUGKA.
It was not possible to open the account in the name of the
school, so it is in the name of the chairman of HUMAES, who makes regular trips
to Uganda. I know this looks very
unprofessional, but please bear in mind that the school is at the start of its
existence, and we are gradually feeling our way towards a more professional
future. I totally trust Charles!
The SWIFT fee is a set one, so it makes sense for donors to
get together and send their donations in one transaction. For donors in the UK please continue to use
the old UK account for the same reason.
UK: Santander,
account name: Ms R Mallinson, account number: 48996636, sort code 09-01-28.
On a personal note, I have moved away from Cornerstone. After a couple of weeks temporarily staying
at an American mission centre, I am now living with my Cece School co-founder
and friend Pascalina and her family in the centre of Nimule. This marks a new phase in my time in South
Sudan, so it seems appropriate to me to start a new blog. Here is the link to the new blog.
