In 2017, a twelve year old girl called
Santukay joined our school. She comes
from a tribe called the Lotuku, displaced from their own area by the war. When originally registered, according to her
aunt both parents were missing. However,
the story changed each year. This year
we were told that one parent is dead.
 |
| Santukay (head circled) with some fellow pupils. |
When she first joined our school Santukay
had a bright and bubbly personality. She
had never attended school before. Over
her first year at school she learnt to read and write for the first time and
made very swift progress. I will always
remember a day when I asked her class about their dreams for the future. Most wanted to be pilots or the next
president. Santukay shouted out with her
usual enthusiasm, “I want to be a manager!”
It seemed to me a very sensible choice.
Every break time, she was busy organizing the other children to learn
tribal dancing and teaching them very well, demonstrating her natural organizational
ability. I thought, “She will go far.”
Last year, Santukay quietened down and
ceased to participate in class as before.
Her school work was not so good any more. She was often late for school. This year, the same pattern continued. She told us that her aunt gave her a lot of
work to do before school. Others told me
that she is made to work solidly from morning to night while not at school,
cooking, fetching water, selling things in the market… the list was endless.
Santukay has not returned to school this
term. Two weeks into the term, one of
our teachers informed me that Santukay’s aunt beat her very badly during the
holidays. Santukay packed her belongings
and ran away to Juba (the capital city of South Sudan) to look for another
relative to live with. She is now
working in a dobbi (local laundry).
Santukay's aunt was requesting me to try to get
Santukay to come back. At the same time blaming the school for Santukay's running away. According to her it is because we have no corporal punishment at the school. I should mention that Santukay has never given anyone cause to want to beat her at school. I gave a
resounding “No, I will not help the aunt to get her slave back again.” Santukay is a strong-looking girl who is tall
for her age. I am sure that the plan of
the aunt is ultimately to marry her off to get a good bride price.
There is no happy solution at least in
the short term. If Santukay comes back
she will be back to the former slave labour and beatings, with the prospect of
being married to somebody against her will.
If she stays in Juba, she will have no chance to continue her education
as there is no one to support her and there are no free schools there. Juba
is not a safe place. As it is the seat
of government, there is often fighting on the streets between different
government factions.
What I hope is that if she can revive her
drooping spirit, she will look for adult education opportunities in Juba and then
be able to build on the two years of schooling she received with Cece Primary
School. There are NGOs who run free
adult education programmes. She is a
very bright girl. This is possible. On
the other hand, she could end up a prostitute on the streets of Juba, with all
her dreams of becoming a manager smashed.
This story is one which is common to many
orphaned girls in South Sudan. The girls
are seen as workhorses, with the potential to bring in a substantial
bride-price. Nothing else.
In one way Santukay has been lucky. Without a school which would accept her
without school fees, she would never have had any education at all. Her small amount of education may help her
yet. People who can read and write are
far and few between here.
This year, we have quite a few older
girls, who are suffering in identical home situations. One girl was married from school last year. Most have had no previous education. Even those who have been to school before,
have been very poorly taught in huge classes in a refugee camp (sometimes 1,000
to a class!) and never learnt to read or write.
Those of you who pray, please pray for
our orphaned girls and especially for Sandukay.
