Challenges and solutions

Dear all,

A lot has happened this term.  After my rather desperate appeal for help, I received a very substantial donation, which really came to the rescue.  Thank you Dominica, so very much! 

Almost as soon as it arrived, we had a seeming catastrophe, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  The nursery classroom was basically a small wall-less, mud-floored shack.  It could not have been more inadequate.  Out of the blue, workmen arrived during class-time and started to dismantle it!  It seemed that the original builder of the room wanted the materials for use elsewhere.  It did not occur to him to mention it to the school in advance.  We managed to persuade the workers to wait until the children had gone home.  The next day, there was no trace of the classroom.

The new block of temporary classrooms under
construction.

We had an emergency meeting and decided to use some of the donation to complete the construction of three temporary classrooms, for which funds had not previously been available.  The work was completed within a few days.  It is a great relief to have those classrooms.  The nursery class was able to re-start the following week.  We were also able to move some classes out of their shared classrooms.  We still have P3 and P5, and P6 and P8 in shared classrooms, but at least nursery, P1, P2, P4 and P7 have the luxury of their own classrooms now.

It has also been wonderful knowing that there is enough money to pay teachers’ salaries for the rest of the school year.  I am now in Uganda, paying for next term’s school fees for all the disabled children, again without having to agonize about it.

Primary 2 in their new classroom.  They really
relish the space.

We have just held our end of term exams.  Academically there is a lot of improvement.  The pass rate is 79%, compared to 64% last term.  This year’s P8 class has just sat their mock exams, and came away feeling confident although we haven’t had the results yet.  Their final primary leaving exams will be in late November.  We have a new headteacher called Ayuel.  He is the pastor of a local church and an important person in the community around the school, which is very helpful.  The local community are not educated people and prioritize their cows above all else, which has been quite difficult.  

Deaf pupils

Alau, the oldest of the deaf pupils, is about to sit his final secondary exams, Senior 4.  His interpreter is confident that he will do well.  I was planning for him to receive formal teacher training next year in Uganda, but there is a problem.  The Ugandan government, in its ongoing battle to improve standards, now insists that teacher training can only take place after finishing Senior 6 (the equivalent of A’levels).  To teach in a Ugandan school it is necessary to have a certificate of teacher training.  Great as this is from the point of view of raising educational standards, it causes difficulties for Alau and myself. 

From left to right, back to front: Paul, Aluma, Joel, 
Jackline, Jennifer, Lillian, Alafi and Vibrant.

By contrast with Uganda, South Sudan’s education system only goes up to Senior 4 (the equivalent of GCSEs).  There is no requirement in South Sudan either for teacher training or for teachers to have any education past Senior 4 level.  There are no teacher training colleges locally, let alone for Special Needs.  To make matters worse, last year’s final results were not released until late July this year, so that nationwide, students were left unable to move forward to their next level of education.  I fear that the same will happen to Alau’s results, which would delay him terribly as well as delaying my plans to start the deaf school in Nimule.  I do not want to see him doing manual work as he was before, such as loading and unloading lorries, for a whole year when he could be moving forward.

I have found what I hope is an alternative solution.  Instead of waiting for the Senior 4 results to be released, I have asked if Alau can be employed as an assistant teacher at the deaf primary school in Budaderi.  This has still to be approved by the school board.  If approved, it will give him informal instruction and practice at an excellent and well-established deaf school.  I know already from experience during the time of Covid, when he assisted the younger deaf children with extra lessons, that Alau has a natural talent for teaching.  Then, we can start the deaf school the following year.  We will also employ a suitably qualified teacher from Uganda at the same time.

Paul and Lillian will do their primary leaving certificate this coming term.  Then they will transfer to deaf secondary school to join Alice next year.  Aluma will move at the same time because his epilepsy, with resulting slow academic progress, and physical handicaps are proving an insurmountable barrier to him moving further up the school.  The secondary school has a vocational training department, so he will receive vocational training rather than continuing his very disheartening academic battle.  The remaining deaf students at primary level are much younger than Aluma so it would have been miserable for him to be left behind.  He and his family are very happy about this decision.

Blind pupils

Mary and Bernard are coming to the end of their first year at Gulu Primary School.  Bernard is doing very well and is learning Braille very quickly.  Mary has fetal alcohol syndrome, which is the cause of her blindness as well as developmental delay.  At first it seemed that teaching her would not be possible.  However, I have just been told that although she is at the most basic level, learning living skills, she is now speaking Acholi (the local language) and can find her way around the school site, even taking herself to the toilet, which is a major milestone for her.  She has been overheard talking in the dormitory about things she has learnt in class, although so far this is not transferring itself into formal assessment achievements.  She keeps completely silent in class and has not managed to learn any Braille yet.  However, I am now feeling very much more hopeful about her than I was.

General situation in South Sudan

South Sudan has been facing a severe financial crisis, so that prices of necessities are going up on a daily basis.  To give an example, a short journey by motorbike taxi cost 500 South Sudan Pounds at the beginning of the year.  Now it will not be less than 1,500 SSP.  From the point of view of fundraising, we are not affected because your donations come in dollars, but for the average citizen, it is a disaster.  Most people are unable to eat more than once a day.  Some schools have closed because families cannot eat and afford school fees.  Even at our school (where we are not charging school fees), some older pupils are dropping out to assist their families by working. 

Civil servants (including government-paid teachers) have been without pay for ten months.  This was the reason for the great delay in producing last year’s Senior 4 exam results, but it affects all sectors.  Lack of pay has led to widespread corrupt practices.  For example, it is not possible to report a crime, without paying a fee to the police. 

The government points to the fact that the main source of national income is oil, which goes by pipeline through Sudan to the Red Sea.  Unfortunately, due to the civil war in Sudan, the pipeline has been severely damaged in an area held by rebels and so oil export has ceased.  The tax system is virtually non-existent.

The first ever general elections in the history of South Sudan (which was founded in 2011) were supposed to be held on 22^nd December.  However, there is no money for the necessary preparation or campaigning.  No census has been held, so nobody knows how many potential voters there are.  This plunged the country into great uncertainty. As I write, there has been an announcement from the President that the elections are to be postponed for another two years.

In the meantime, all we can do is keep the country and its poor people in prayer and try to do our small best to help where we can.  In my own case, that means in the field of education for disadvantaged children in one small town.  I do hope you agree with me.  

I am planning to visit the UK from December to January but am not sure of my dates yet.  I hope to see some of you at that time.  It would be great if anyone could arrange some publicity in your own area.  I would be very happy to talk to groups about my work in South Sudan with the school and the disabled children.

Thank you for all your support.

Rebecca Mallinson

rebeccamallinson1@gmail.com