The school year draws to a close

Dear friends,

The children are now sitting their end of year exams, which I hope will continue to show an upward trend.  At the end of next week it will all be over, bar the distribution of report cards and marked exam papers. 

On Thursday 6^th December we celebrated a belated World AIDS Day, in which some of our children recited a poem which they had worked on together.  World AIDS Day is a major feature of our school year because HIV/AIDS is the main reason for admission to Cece Primary School.  Nimule is a major hotspot for HIV/AIDS in South Sudan, with a shocking 1 in every 25 people testing positive.  The children wore their smart new uniforms for the first time at that event.  They led the audience in singing the National Anthem.   It was a very small event this year due to poor organization by the NGOs responsible, but those who attended were full of praise of our children’s contribution.  The poem goes as follows:

HIV, HIV, HIV
You came to Africa
You spread to many parts of Africa
You affect many groups of people
Young, elders, families
HIV, you kill many people and still continue killing
Now you have left us to be orphans, widows and sick
Because of HIV.

View of pre-primary class PE lesson with
un-roofed classrooms in the background.

The school closes on 21^st December for the Christmas holidays.  We will begin registration for the new school year, in mid-January.  Last year, we were snowed under with desperate families wanting places and had to turn many away.  It was horrendous.  Most of the applicants who were rejected were for the pre-primary class.  Next year, we really hope to have two pre-primary classes, to try to avoid this situation.  We will also have a new class at the top of the school, as our Primary 4 class will graduate to Primary 5.  This is an ongoing process until we reach the exalted heights of Primary 8, which is the end of primary education in South Sudan.  A secondary school on the same site is a distinct possibility, but is still at the pipe dream stage.

In order for us to house our two new classes, we need to finish the construction work on our two remaining classrooms.  All that is needed is roofing and a small amount extra for creating blackboards in the classrooms.  The cost of roofing two classrooms will be around $3,300 or £2,586. I know this is a large amount of money. If you are able to contribute something towards the roofing of the two, very necessary, classrooms, it will be a very great help to us.

Children complete their planting task.

Mango seedlings in the rubbish heap.

Still on the subject of the development of our school compound, our watchman has found around sixty (60!) self-seeded mango seedlings growing in our rubbish tip, clearly sprouted from the children’s discarded mango stones.  We very recently planted five neem tree seedlings, so a couple of days ago the children were set to work before going into their exam rooms planting ten of the baby mango trees.  The only problem is freely roaming goats and cows, which will eat any saplings they find, so we have surrounded each seedling with brick walls to keep the animals at bay.  The dry season is almost here, so it will be necessary, at least for the first few months, to mulch and regularly water the seedlings, otherwise they will not survive.  We are living in a very fertile area, so we are fairly confident that the mango trees will be bearing fruit in five years time.  Both the neem and mango trees will give very welcome shade for children and teachers and stop our compound from looking so desert-like.  The remaining mango trees will be planted around the edge of the compound.  We already have a self-seeded pawpaw sapling, which we are hoping will prove to be a female and produce fruit.  We are planning to plant some more.  A pawpaw is about the size of a honeydew melon so each one will feed several children. There is also a lemon tree sapling.   If we can end up with several types of fruit which ripen at different times of year, it will be very good for our children’s general health.  In spite of the fertility of the soil here, very few people eat fruit regularly.

Last week I went to Uganda to fetch the deaf children and bring them back to South Sudan for their first Christmas holiday.  It is the first time they have seen their families for ten months.  Some of the parents have come to thank me for their children’s schooling.  They were very impressed by how well-fed their children look and how much more disciplined they are.  All are now communicating in Ugandan sign language.  The children’s report cards show how much progress they have made academically. 

A big thank you to those who responded to my last appeal for help with sponsorship.  This will enable me to pay the children’s school fees and get them back to school next year.  There is another deaf child who is currently in our school called Paul.  Depending on his exam results this term and on his family’s wishes, I may well take him to join the others next year.  He is a very bright 12 year old, who communicates incredibly well with his own version of sign language.  He is completely mute.  In spite of his communication difficulties he is very sociable and particularly keen on football.  Our problem is lack of expertise in communicating all the school subjects to him.

Our supporting charity Opportunity through Education has registered us through a website called Give as You Live.  This website acts as a portal through which to shop online.  Each time you use it, a percentage goes to the charity of your choice.  Christmas is coming!  It would be lovely if you could to do at least some of your Christmas shopping through Give as You Live.

Please note that Give as You Live cannot be used for donations.  However, Opportunity through Education is currently applying to join another site called MyDonate, which will allow donors to donate online.  Once this has been activated, overseas donors will also be able to help our school.

I would be very grateful if you could share this post widely with anyone who might be able to help us with donations.  Please let me know if you are able to help by email so that I can send a gift aid form for Opportunity Through Education.  Rebeccamallinson1@hotmail.co.uk .