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. 

Happy New Year, from NESEI

Dear NESEI Friends,

May this season be one of peace for you  and your loved ones. Thank you for your continued support of NESEI these past few years.  We're looking forward to a new year of abundance and joy, and wish the same for you, wherever you are!

 

Below is a holiday message and annual update from Co-Director Abraham Awolich.

 

We, the Sudanese people, and the NESEI team wish you Happy Holidays! We hope this letter finds you healthy and well during this season. As part of our commitment to you and our mission, we would like to keep you up to date on NESEI. We have been thriving over the last two years, because of your support! I would like to highlight some key achievements that have been made in the course of the past year:

-In May 2007, we participated in the World Bank Development Marketplace competition. Our project was selected as one of 22 winners out of 3,000 applicants from 65 countries.

-In September 2007, a local VT donor made a substantial gift to support NESEI over the course of the next three years.

-Also in September, Katie Hatch and Robert Lomude started full time on the ground as our field coordinators. They will facilitate the construction of the school as well as the recruitment of staff and students.

-We will open our doors of our first school - the New Sudan School of Health Sciences - in May 2008 in Yei, S. Sudan!

-Last month, NESEI started accepting applications for teachers and staff.

-A Ugandan NGO has donated the services of 5-6 secondary school teachers for a year of service to the school.

NESEI is working with a student at Harvard Graduate School of Education to help with the creation of an effective curriculum for the school.

-This fall, NESEI embarked on its first national speaking tour,  "Sudan: A Future beyond Genocide."  The tour has taken us to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Williams, Bates, and many other universities and colleges around the northeast, creating awareness and raising funds. The tour will continue to other schools in the spring.

NESEI's New Year's Wish List

Having highlighted the key achievements of this year, it is worth noting that these achievements would not have been possible without your support. With these successes, however, come more challenges, and we are looking for your continued support, especially this holiday season.

Our goal between now and May 2008 is to raise $ 180,000 for the school to fully function. Here is just a part of our wish list!

-$ 31,500 for scholarships for 70 girls ($450 per girl, per year).

-$45,000 for our farm and  livestock program.

-$ 40,000 to build 4 dormitories.

-$ 25,000 for the library.

-$35,000 for the computer lab.

Every single dollar or a minute of your time that was donated to NESEI made a difference in 2007. We are eternally grateful for your help and support! Our appreciation would best be expressed by continuing to work hard to get those children to school.

As Sudanese working for NESEI, it only gives us joy and inspiration to have wonderful friends and supporters like you on our side. Our promise to you is to deliver the dreams of NESEI to the people whose lives would be transformed by education and training.

Together, we can,

Abraham Awolich, Co-Director

Notes from the Field: November

Notes from the Field:

It is November, and being the month of giving thanks in the United States, I thought I would do the same here in Sudan. I am currently in Juba, South Sudan meeting with World Bank officials, different United Nations agencies, and other NGOs working in Sudan. Everywhere I go I am thankful for all of the much-needed work NESEI is doing. Children are in the field playing football when they should be in school. Mothers who discover we are building schools quickly show me their children and ask to have them attend. The need for education is evident everywhere.  Every step I take, I am thankful for the interactions, for the words of support, for the beginnings of a new Sudan that NESEI is helping to build.

I met some foreigners working with in anti-corruption efforts within the government of Southern Sudan. They were intrigued by NESEI's approach to education: a commitment to not only provide a quality education to our students, but also allow individuals to develop skills in particular areas that the country desperately needs. A trip to the local hospital in Juba is a stark indicator that community health workers are vital, and largely unavailable, to the local population. What struck me most about the men from the government was what they said when we parted ways: "You are doing something useful for Sudan. Our work will be useful in 5 or 10 years, but your work is useful now."

We can all be thankful for our contributions towards building peace through education in Sudan. Thank you for helping NESEI to bring education to this region.

In Peace,

Katie Hatch, Sudan Co-Director

Presiding Episcopal Bishop Offers Support to NESEI

On Nov. 2, The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, came to Burlington to speak about the Millennium Development Goals, as well as lend support to NESEI's efforts to meet these important development standards.

Jefferts Schori, who had a career as an oceanographer before becoming an Episcopal priest, is the first female presiding Bishop of the Episcopal church. Her talk, which took place at Ira Chapel at UVM, focused on the importance of the MDGs and their intrinsic connection to Christianity's original tenets.

NESEI Co-Founder Atem Deng, who was introduced by Vermont Bishop Thomas Ely, preceded her talk with a welcome address that brought attention to the dire situation in Sudan, and the need to support organizations such as NESEI.

"Our Christian community in Sudan has experienced a lot of oppression," said Atem. "Now we are trying to rebuild our country and we need the support of the global Christian community, particularly in the U.S."

All donations from the event went to benefit NESEI's programs in Sudan.