For students at the Don Bosco Primary School located on the Don Bosco Gumbo campus, Salesian missionaries are providing new pens, pencils and school stationary for the new school year. The primary school serves 1,000 children, many of whom are from families who have been internally displaced.

According to the World Bank, almost 83 percent of South Sudanese resided in rural areas before the outbreak of the recent conflict which has displaced more than 2 million people. Only 27 percent of the population aged 15 years and older is literate, with significant gender disparities. The literacy rate for males is 40 percent compared to 16 percent for females with less than 1 percent of girls completing primary education. The Don Bosco Primary School’s mission is to educate all students with a focus on ensuring that girls have equal access to education. Close to 45 percent of the school’s students are girls.

“Girls education is important to us, and we work to ensure that girls are welcome in our school,” says Father David Tulimelli, parish priest at the Salesian St. Vincent de Paul parish which operates Don Bosco Gumbo, “We are grateful to our donors who made it possible that we could provide our students the school supplies they need to be prepared for their lessons and complete their studies.”

South Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world with 55 percent of its population living in poverty, according to the World Bank. The country celebrated its third year of independence in 2015 but is facing an ongoing civil war that started in December 2013 and has resulted in a dire humanitarian crisis.

According to a recent New York Times articles, international aid agencies have developed a report that indicates more than 2.2 million people in South Sudan have fled their homes over the past two years, including some 600,000 who have sought refuge in neighboring countries. Last year, according to the report, a new pattern of violence emerged in which government forces adopted scorched-earth tactics burning entire villages, killing their inhabitants, destroying crops and looting livestock. The civil war, which started in northern and eastern states has now spread to the south.

During the first year of the war, fighting was initially between Nuer and Dinka ethnic communities aligned with the rival leaders but of late a wider array of armed groups and communities have been drawn into the increasingly lethal violence. The international aid agencies’ report also detailed the severity of human rights violations and abuses that have increased with the continuation of hostilities in the country and noted that attacks that have singled out and killed children as well as subjected them to sexual violence. Further, the United Nations estimates that as a result of the conflict, 2.8 million people are currently facing “acute” food and nutrition insecurity in South Sudan’s Greater Upper Nile states.

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Sources:

NY Times – U.N Finds South Sudan Increasingly in Turmoil

World Bank – South Sudan 

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Led by young adults from the St. Vincent de Paul parish, pre-novices from the Salesian community and volunteers, the camp program encouraged a holistic, balanced lifestyle designed to help campers develop a strong foundation of mind, body and spirit. It also provided local youth the opportunity to spend their vacation time in a positive, healthy environment.

The camp opened by registering campers and assigning them to one of four teams. During the course of the 10 days, the teams competed in recreational activities and sports with an emphasis on developing a healthy sense of competition and camaraderie. Each day began with a morning assembly that included positive messages of hope, joy, peace and love followed by morning classes in English and Arabic. After a mid-morning breakfast, campers engaged in sports and recreational activities including games and art, speech, singing and dance competitions.

“Youth living in poverty in South Sudanese communities have difficulty excelling and remaining in school,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Salesian youth programs, like summer camps, provide positive role models, structured activities, a safe place to get off the streets and a nonviolent, supportive environment in which to engage with peers.”

Don Bosco Gumbo includes a church parish, secondary school and youth center and provides education and social development services for poor youth and their families. For some students, the secondary school at Don Bosco Gumbo is their only option for continued studies.

Don Bosco Gumbo is one of the host sites for the Salesian Lay Missionaries program which provides lay volunteers to work alongside Salesian priests and sisters on various projects throughout the world. Since the program started in 1981, more than 350 lay missioners have served in 20 countries on projects that range from youth ministry to agriculture to nursing.

South Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world with 55 percent of its population living in poverty, according to the World Bank. The country celebrated its third year of independence last July but is facing an ongoing civil war that started in December 2013 and has resulted in a dire humanitarian crisis.

The civil war has left thousands dead and displaced hundreds of thousands more. Close to 80,000 people have sought refuge at several UN compounds across the country. In the capital of Juba, 80 percent of those displaced are women and children. More than 350,000 people have fled to neighboring countries risking their lives and leaving everything behind.

Salesian missionaries assist those internally displaced through programs across South Sudan and in neighboring Kenya at the Kakuma refugee camp. More than 44 percent of refugees at the camp are from South Sudan and arrived after escaping conflict and violence.

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Sources:

ANS – South Sudan – Don Bosco Gumbo Summer Camp 2015

World Bank – South Sudan 

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