Two years later ……

Unbelievably, at least to me, I have now been in Nimule for two years.  There have been difficult times and good times, none related to the ongoing civil war.  Life in Nimule goes on regardless and virtually untouched apart from the economic repercussions (which are harsh) and the sight of displaced people heading for the border.

I continue to teach the children both at Cornerstone Children’s Home and at Cece School. The children at the home have made great strides since the beginning of this year, when my friend Hazel came to visit.  They now have a lot of very good educational games and books which have made a huge difference. 

Cece School has just reopened after a two week holiday.  The children are at a very early stage educationally, but are attending regularly and doing their best.  They have had a very bad start in life, with extremely poor nutrition, ill and dying parents and sheer grim poverty.  They, like the majority of children in South Sudan, lack any sort of home discipline other than draconian caning.  As a result, they have no idea how to behave and constantly attack each other.  I refuse to allow caning in the school.  I am teaching the teachers to use ‘discipline’ rather than ‘punishment’.  I take the word ‘discipline’ to mean that teachers must set an example of correct behaviour and explain good behaviour to the children, as in the relationship between teacher and 'disciple'.  We talk individually to culprits and ask them to forgive each other.  I have pointed out to the teachers that constant caning results in children who constantly beat each other.  It has also resulted ultimately in civil war because there have been generations of South Sudanese who have experienced only the stick and have no idea how to reconcile. 

Children hard at work

I use stories to reinforce good behaviour.  For example, a few days ago, the children were running around at a time when they should have been lining up to wash their hands before eating their porridge.  I kept telling them to line up but they ignored me completely.  As a result a small child with a bowl of hot porridge was knocked over and the porridge burnt her arms.  I was extremely angry.  At assembly the next day I spoke to the children about the importance of obedience, first to God and then to parents and teachers.  I pointed out how a serious accident had happened because of disobedience.  Then I told them the story of Jonah and the Whale as an example of what happens when we are disobedient.  When I went into the classroom, the children were sitting in neat rows quietly waiting for me!  One day they have horns on their heads, the next day they have developed wings and haloes. 

I have organised training for myself and the other teachers by a missionary group in Uganda called Sanctuary of Grace, who specialise in training teachers for very small basic schools with a Christian ethos.  This should make a big difference.  We have been so lucky to find this group.  As it is their mission, there will be no charge other than the cost of visas to enter South Sudan.  The mutual friend who put me in touch will host them, so there will be no accommodation costs.

A big success has been the fundraising for the shoes (see my last post).  Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed.  The target was met within the deadline.  I have ordered the shoes to go to a friend’s PO Box in Adjumani in Uganda.  This is the most practical way as there is no postal system in South Sudan.  Adjumani is the nearest Ugandan town to Nimule.

Cook preparing porridge.

When I look around the local market, only the most basic flip flops made out of car tyres or the cheapest and tackiest plastic shoes are available.  The plastic shoes fall to pieces very rapidly on the rough mountain terrain of Nimule.  This is even without the rough treatment of active children.  The car tyre sandals are tougher but are not allowed in school.  The new sandals will be as good as anything you will find in a western country, specifically designed for tough third world conditions and will grow with the children. 

Christianity tells us that everything we do should be covered by love and that without love good deeds are like a clanging cymbal.  It does not seem to me to be a demonstration of love when we give our own children expensive leather shoes, carefully fitted, but give a pittance to those in most need and ask them to make do with cheap plastic shoes.  I see this attitude so many times from those who are supporting the poor of South Sudan, both locals and foreigners.  I am deeply thankful that so many people have dug deep and helped me to buy ‘the best’ as Christmas presents for the children of Cece and Cornerstone.  These children really need to feel loved.  When they receive love, they will learn to recognise it and, hopefully, learn to pass it on to others.

Here is a video of Sabina, one of our teachers, who organises the children to learn traditional songs and dances.

Having said how important it is to provide the best possible, the school itself is still at a very basic stage.  There are no desks so the children sit and work on mats on the floor.  The stove is an outdoor brick structure.  We have very limited text books (one for each subject).  The committee is keen for the children to have a school uniform.  These are all things we hope to address in the coming year, in order of priority (kitchen and text books first, followed by desks and lastly by uniform).  This may seem shocking to those used to western schools, but these conditions are not unusual here.  Some schools even lack buildings.

The achievements have been great. 

• ·         In July we worked on the newly donated compound so it is no longer a jungle, constructed latrines, cleared large amounts of rubble out of the building and made blackboards.  It was a massive effort by CECE and HUMAES.
• ·         We have four teachers, including me, who are all very committed to seeing the children succeed.  This alone makes Cece School stand out from other schools in the area. 
• ·         The teacher to pupil ratio is one teacher to fifteen children, which is unheard of here. 
• ·         We provide a truly delicious and sustaining porridge made with millet and sesame paste, which again is unusual.  Some schools provide maize porridge, which has little nutritional value, but many do not give the children anything to eat.
• ·         The two Community Based Organisations (CECE and HUMAES) who are jointly working with me for the school recently acquired electricity, a modem and a printer in their office.  This means I am now able to produce and print teaching materials, which is a great step forward.

To finish, here is some personal news.  I have made a decision to move out of Cornerstone Children’s Home but will still be visiting every Saturday and helping the children as before.  I will be living in a room owned by the Catholic Church, so it will be a very different set up at the opposite end of town.  This move will free me up to find other ways to help in Nimule while allowing me to continue to help at both Cornerstone and Cece Primary School.  At the moment I am still at Cornerstone because the previous occupant of my new room has the key and has left his belongings in the room.  I have already told the Cornerstone children that I will be moving, but will still see them often so that they can get used to the idea in advance and not feel abandoned.

Thank you all once again for your magnificent support without which Cece Primary School could not have started.