Making Education More Accessible for the 620 Students of Mading, South Sudan
The education situation across South Sudan, especially the remote villages needs immense support. Ariang region, where we work, has six villages and three primary schools whose student population is over 3,000. The daily attendance in all the three schools averages 2,500, meaning that about 5,00 students miss school every day. Any effort that makes education more accessible to children matters a lot.
HOPE for Ariang’s Ariang Network of Schools Program‘s core mission seeks to promote inclusive access to education through a collaborative and centralized support system. However, there are many barriers in various forms for a person living outside of Ariang to understand.
For many students, going to school means trekking barefoot for up to 6 Kilometers through dense vegetation and swimming between 20-40 meters across the river to reach school. Learning means sitting on rocks under trees in an open field to receive instructions, writing from your laps because there are no desks to write on, and going full-day without lunch.
If these blockers are left unchecked, the world risks losing another generation of children to childhood marriages, illicit groups/behaviors, severe suffering in old age, and continued generational poverty cycles.
How Does HFA Help Mitigate the Barriers?
HFA collaborates with individuals, organizations, government agencies, and the local community of Ariang to eliminate the blockers so that education becomes more accessible for every child.
One such organization is Tailored for Education, a Boston-based not-for-profit organization that helps restore and maintain students’ dignity through uniforms. This year [2022], HFA received yet another funding from the organization to support the students of Mading School with school uniforms and shoes. Mading is one of the three schools that HFA supports through its Ariang Network of Schools program.
Mading school has a student population of six hundred and twenty [620] boys and girls who go there every day to quench their thirst for education. However, the school lacks basic school infrastructures such as classrooms, desks, chalkboards, and stationeries. All six hundred and twenty [620] students and their teachers sit on rocks under trees in an open field. This situation causes their uniforms to wear out faster compared to other students in sister schools. This school, therefore, needs extra support for it to continue to operate. The closest sister school where Mading students could go is two hours away. That means extra walking in the scorching sun of South Sudan.
The Tailored for Education’s uniforms fund filled a major social gap. The funding enabled HFA to buy seven hundred pairs [700] pairs of sneaker shoes and 691 pairs of high-quality fabric school uniforms – 100% made by local women. Each of the six hundred and twenty [620] students of Mading School received a new pair of shoes and a school uniform.
Below are some photos documenting the development process and the colorful event on the day of distribution.
Mama Akuach and her trainer, Eunice – HFA’s WEP graduates at their workshop where they sewed all 691 pairs of uniforms
Join the HOPE for Ariang Giving Community | Give Monthly
Please consider becoming a monthly donor to help make education more accessible, high-quality, and enjoyable to the children of South Sudan. Our donors have enabled us to grow the school population of the three schools from less than 100 to over 2,500 in a span of 12 years.
Every $10 supports a kid with full-year school supplies. There are over 2,500 students that need support. Welcome! Build a stronger world for everyone today. Every dollar counts.
