In my contemplative prayer of the incarnation, I imagine the Holy Trinity gazing at the education situation in Maban.

I see the three persons desiring the children of God on this part of our universe to have access to education, to experience quality education. Many children in Maban, both in the refugee populations and host communities, still struggle with access to education. Many have no place to call a school.  Fortunately, efforts at meeting this Trinitarian desire are being explored by different partners of goodwill such as JRS among others.

A few years ago, JRS identified the need to support education for the marginalized communities that host refugees in Maban. Uffra community was identified and supported in setting up some simple school physical infrastructure, provision of reading materials, incentives to teachers, and feeding program for the learners.  Though humble, the center is a source of hope and joy to many. Here, the youthful people of the South Sudan have a chance to dream

Our host government driven by the need to accommodate learners of ‘advanced age’ came up with a curriculum that accelerates the duration spent in school such that one takes only half the number of years taken to complete the primary level. This Accelerated Learning Program takes four years instead of the customary eight years.

Recently, the first lot of the primary eight candidates in Uffra School sat for their final examinations and hurray!!! two out of twenty passed the test.

I take the celebration to honour Jerica’s achievement as indicative of a cultural shift in favor of education. Here is why! The elaborate communal celebration witnessed in his honour are customarily held to mark the marriage of young girls and boys. Interestingly in Jerica’s case, the same dance by the same community was made on the account of his educational achievement.

This new cultural attitude towards education seems to be a great potential in engaging the future of education in Maban.

Days later when I met with Jerica, he informed me that his classmate, Joseph, had travelled to The Sudan in search of a place in form 1 (secondary senior 1).  Jerica on his part has joined a nearby school. The school is quite distant and he has to walk for about two hours to reach it. We at JRS are very proud of these learners. They are our heroes as they are to their community.

As the Trinity gazes upon the earth and decides to send one of them to help the world, we feel called to give ourselves more to accompany our young people in their education journey. They still need our support to continue walking on this path in search of knowledge.

Shukran