Remember Neema?

YouMoveMe.org, an organization that produces stories about youth from around the world overcoming hardships and sharing life's lessons, is publishing an essay about Neema Nyoka, a NESEI student. As you may remember, back when Neema was an applicant to our school, we told you a story about her life. Now, You Move Me has written an update, in Neema's voice. The article will be shared with students at schools across the U.S., with the intention of helping them get involved with NESEI's efforts. Please enjoy this article, whose link is below, and check out the good work that You Move Me is doing!


"A Guarantee from Sudan"

Neema, age 18, Sudan - October 28, 2008

We used to play “family” with my friends in the backyard of my grandmother’s house. Playing family is the most common children’s game in Africa. We used to pretend that we were in a happy family with both a mother and father: the ideal family. I like happy families. The father would go to work in town and the mother (often played by me) would stay home to cook and take care of the children. That game is my favorite childhood memory. It was my way of having a real family, and it still is.

My name is Neema. I am an 18-year-old girl from southern Sudan who has known many challenges. My father died 17 years ago, when I was only a baby, and my mother lived until I was 10 years old. I have also known many people who have died from AIDS. It hurts to watch your loved ones being eaten away by the monster AIDS. I had to move to the village with my grandmother after my mother died. Then, when it came time to start school, I moved again to a different town where I stayed with my step-mother and step-father.

At their house I had to learn to do all the household chores and to look after my 1 year old step-sister. The hardest chore was to carry water. My step-father owned a brick-making business, and water was needed to make the bricks. I used to carry water on my head all day from the river, which was three miles away. It was very challenging, but I managed.

I was driven to work hard because I wanted to stay in school. School is not free here, and I struggled to pay the fees. My step-parents did not want to pay the fees because my step-mother said it was useless for girls to get an education. But I was determined to stay in school, so I earned my own tuition by carrying water for the brick-makers on Saturdays and Sundays. It takes about 12 buckets to fill one drum of water, and I earned $2 for every drum of water I filled.

I carried so many buckets. So many heavy buckets.

But now, my friends, I am very happy to tell you that I no longer carry water to go to school. I have earned a scholarship to attend a high school built by the New Sudan Education Initiative (NESEI), and I now spend my weekends working on my studies instead of carrying water in the hot sun. Because of these efforts, I am the top-ranked student at the school and also the student body president.

My best subject is mathematics. I think math is easy, although a lot of my friends don’t agree. Math makes me think and helps me find solutions in real life, as math is all about finding solutions. I like thinking a lot. I also enjoy reading story books. My favorite of all time is Cinderella. I love that story because it shows that no matter how much one suffers, one can succeed.

That is why education is the most important thing in my life. I have been given the opportunity to empower myself with knowledge which will help me empower others when I share it. Education is paving a way for me to be able to help my family with the basic needs in life. I want to become an accountant to help people in southern Sudan with their financial problems and help them start small businesses.

Above all, I want to help the needy, the suffering, and especially the orphans and widows because I have seen these things at a very young age. I watched my mother struggle so much as a widow and it broke my heart. I want to be able to help orphans and widows, and that is why I study so hard. In life I am inspired by the orphans and the widows.

If we want to make the world a better place for them – and for everyone – we will need more love and unity. I have always believed that if people in the whole world loved each other there would be no war, no hatred, no fighting or genocide in Darfur. And we must care for children, because they are the keepers of tomorrow’s world. I want to give my children the best education imaginable. Love guarantees all these things.

Neema earned her scholarship through the New Sudan Education Initiative (NESEI), a US-based non-profit founded by Sudanese refugees that is building high schools in Sudan. If you, your classmates, or your whole school would like to help provide a scholarship for a girl like Neema, please visit http://www.nesei.org/ to learn how.

Discussion questions:

1. What are some things for which you have had to work very hard in your own life? How were your efforts similar to Neema’s efforts? How were they different?

2. If you had to earn your own tuition to go to school, would you be willing to spend your weekends carrying water?

3. Neema says she especially wants to help orphans and widows because of her personal experiences. Are you motivated by any personal experiences of your own?

4. Neema says that education is “paving a way” for her to help meet life’s basic needs. What are the various ways in education can help to overcome poverty?

www.youmoveme.org/neema.html

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Update on NESEI School

A Campus Progress Report:
The students at NESEI's school, near Yei, Sudan have been very busy in the months following the school's opening in May.  Classes started early in June and mid-term exams were given in late July, in both English and math. Library books have been donated by UNHCR, allowing students to choose from reading materials other than their basic school text books. Several campus clubs have been initiated, including a debate club, a news desk, and a choir. A campus-wide bonfire was held in early July, at which students danced, sang, and read a poem to the assembled NESEI audience. Corn that had been grown at the NESEI campus was eaten at the bonfire, to celebrate a good harvest. 

NESEI students participated in several live videoconferences with U.S. students, thanks to their access to Skype technology. During the skype chat, NESEI's students danced and sang, and spoke to the U.S. students about their school. NESEI is planning on implementing skype calls to U.S. schools into their education program in Sudan, allowing students in Sudan to better understand computer technology, and have more opportunities to directly connect with people of other cultures. 

In July, NESEI worked with Winrock International to bring 10 girls from the conflicted region of Abyei, and 18 from Bahr al Ghazal to the NESEI school. The students' tuition and other 

fees have been covered by Winrock until the girls graduate from NESEI's secondary program. NESEI hopes to accept more students who have received Winrock scholarships as the school's facilities can be expanded. Currently, the school has immediate need for support to build a girls' dorm, to allow more students to enroll. There are currently 75 female students attending the school. 

The campus medical clinic has opened and a certified nurse now serves as a teacher and health provider to the campus community. Below, she is pictured attending to a site staff member. The school farm continues to thrive, producing food that is feeding the campus community, and

excess yield that has been sold to local businesses and markets.

A Poem from Sudan

The following poem was presented by the students of NESEI's school, and was read at the reception of new students from Bahr al Ghazal, who arrived on July 8. The poem discusses a new era for women in Sudan. Right now, GOSS (The Gov't of South Sudan) has in its constitution that women must represent 25% of the Gov't. The students of NESEI's school of South Sudan are demanding equal representation: 50%. 

It's interesting to note, that in the U.S., only 17% of those serving in the U.S. House of Representatives are women, and just 16% of those serving in the Senate are women. Our young students in South Sudan are demanding a level of equality in their country that women in the U.S. have not yet demanded. We are very proud of our young students for their forward thinking goals for themselves and their country. Please enjoy this poem, presented by elected Head Student Neema Nyoka.

Voices of NESEI Girls

Those days are gone!

We will fight for our rights

Equality is our new oxygen

25% in GOSS is just a resting point

The destination is 50% women representation

Soon, new crops of leaders like the late Dr. John Garang and Joseph Lao will be women

We have accepted leadership

Our room is no longer a kitchen but offices

We have discarded early marriage

We are no longer conditioned parasites

Education is our new farming tool and hunting weapon

We are glued to education

We have accepted

It is clear now

We have seen the road

The message is getting to our hearts

We are grateful to NESEI and Winrock

Your efforts are saluted

We are getting the tune

Don't give up on us

We have accepted education.

NESEI's School is Open!

On May 19, NESEI's U.S and Sudan staffs were joined by regional chiefs and elders, and other members of the local Lanya County and Yei town communities to welcome the first students of NESEI's flagship school to the new campus.

The "blessing ceremony" was an opportunity for the NESEI family and local Sudanese friends to come together and stand witness to a milestone in development for South Sudan.  As each student shook the hand of Directors Robert Lair and Atem Deng and passed through the entrance of the dining hall where the ceremony was held, the dream of providing secondary education in South Sudan took a step closer towards reality. 

About 20 young women were present for the blessing ceremony that morning, the first of many young women and men who will receive a quality, life-changing education at a NESEI school. They donned their uniforms- a NESEI-orange shirt that bears the message "Building Peace Through Education" and black, cotton skirts- with visible pride. Despite long, difficult journeys from various counties across the region, the girls were cheerful and energetic, listening carefully as the speakers addressed them and the founders of their school. 

The ceremony began with a brief address from schoolmistress Margaret Juan, which was followed by an emotional offering of song by the local Lanya County women. Their voices rang out, strong and symphonious, capturing the spirit of the day, and expressing in music a feeling difficult to describe with words. Defying borders, languages, and roads riddled with the potholes of a persistent rainy season, we assembled together that morning to show gratitude and reverence for the accomplishment that was materializing before us. 

Each chief took his turn addressing the NESEI community, stressing the importance of community partnerships, respect for the land, and commitment to provide quality education to the young people of Sudan. Robert Lair and Atem Deng also spoke, addressing the group with humility as they presented to the community a school that has been many years in the making. 

For Robert, Atem, and the other NESEI founders, this ceremony was the culmination of an idea that first took form on a plane ride home to VT, after Atem's first journey back to East Africa in 2004. That day, Robert and Atem made a plan to bring sustainable peace through education to the people of Sudan.  Four years later, the long awaited moment of the school's opening had arrived. But for the people of South Sudan, the wait for education has been much longer, and far more costly. In a region that has been plagued for two generations with a destructive civil war, where over 93% of women are illiterate, where there are less than 100 doctors to serve 10 million people, this health sciences high school is an incredible resource and achievement. It is one of the first major steps towards education and economic development in this region, and it would not have been possible without Sudanese and Americans working tirelessly side-by-side. 

This was illustrated when NESEI staff member Anita Henderlight closed the ceremony with a story she had heard from a Sudanese friend: When a group of Sudanese boys were fleeing the civil war and found themselves being forced to cross the River Nile, they had a choice to make. They could either jump in as individuals and fight the currents as one small person, or they could join hands and swim across to safety as one, unified body. Unity was their greatest strength in the face of great difficulty. 

With the telling of this story, Anita and the other NESEI staff members joined hands with their Sudanese, Ugandan, and Kenyan friends who have made this first school possible. Then, together, the unified NESEI family took a symbolic jump forward for Sudan. 

Esther

Field Report from Sudan Co-Director Lauren Servin:

While sitting in Kampala the morning before a meeting with our NESEI teachers, a girl approached me after hearing me speaking the local Sudan Arabic on the phone.  She asked me if I was working in Sudan and I told her that I work for an organization that is building secondary schools in Southern Sudan.  She told me that she was going to secondary school in the same county where we are building the NESEI school.  I was very interested to hear this as the rate of attendance of girls in secondary school in this county as in most of Southern Sudan is extremely low.  It has been estimated that less than 1% of all girls graduate from secondary school.  

The name of this young lady is Esther.  She is now 18 years old and is about to begin Senior - Four.  She finished her Primary School in Uganda where she was living with her uncle.  However, when he passed away, she had to move back to Sudan as this was where her parents were residing.  When she arrived home her father told her: "I can't pay for your school fees, so it is time for you to get married."  At this time she was no more than 12 years old and she was strong enough to refuse this command by her parents.  She decided that she would work in the town and pay for her school fees on her own.  Her school fees, which were around thirty-five Sudanese pounds, is less than 15 USD per term, but is a lot of money to earn.  She struggled to earn this money by washing clothes and doing other small jobs of this sort.  After two years of being in Sudan with no school, she was able to pay for her senior 1 and has continued to pay now for herself up to senior four.  

This is a very heroic story that is not uncommon to many young Sudanese women.  The desire for education is there and the spirit of hard work to gain it is growing.  I am glad that we as NESEI can support these young women in their struggle to make their own choices and to grow beyond economic constraints and cultural repercussions of their parents.  Early Marriage is more of an act of desperate economic situations, rather than that of cultural orientation.  We hope that we will be able to support more girls like Esther to not have to enter unwillingly into early marriage, and that we can be of assistance so they can spend their adolescence in school, rather than washing clothes.  Esther still has three more years of secondary school to go.  Due to finances she will try to complete a computer course rather than her A level (the last two years of secondary school)  And her dream of University, however strong it is in her mind, is discouragingly distant due to a lack of funds.  

Construction of First School Right on Schedule

NESEI’s Sudan Field Officer Lauren Servin reported today that the site of the first school is right on schedule, with construction, student recruitment, and teacher training moving along at an efficient pace. The school, which is being built in Yei, South Sudan, will open to 150 students in late April.

Servin reported that the floors and roofs have been completed on both the classroom and the dormitory buildings, and construction of the dining hall and kitchen has begun. The construction of the classroom blocks should be finished on March 19. In addition, fencing around the perimeter of the campus is nearing completion.

While the field staff are busy building up, they’re also digging down: the foundations for the latrines and showers have been finished, and the borehole, which will pipe in fresh water for the campus and adjoining school farm, is being drilled this week.

Essential agreements and partnerships for construction and recruitment have also been recently created, which will ensure the school's steady progression. The contract for the Staff/Guest housing has been signed and construction on those buildings is set to begin immediately. NESEI’s innovative design for a solar energy system is almost complete, which will provide clean, sustainable, and reliable energy to the entire campus.

The school will welcome six teachers from Kampala, Uganda, who will be joining our school staff on March 24 to begin training and NESEI orientation. From March 26-April 20 curriculum and staff development, as well as classroom preparation will be completed. Interviews of potential students will be conducted in Yei starting March 22, and in the neighboring towns of Juba and Arua beginning March 29.  

All of the hard work and waiting will be rewarded on April 21, when NESEI’s new students begin arriving. Classes are scheduled to begin around April 28.