Got School?

By: John Jefferson

Got School?

Since the war broke out over a year and a half before we arrived, the hundreds of kids in the villages around where we served had not been in school.  Prior to that, I was told there were a couple of semi-literate female teachers that were sent from the North, but they only had the students recite the Koran.  In essence, many of the children have not received decent instruction in a long time, if ever.  More interesting still was the fact that there were a couple of teachers around, but they didn’t have chalk, pencils, paper or instruction manuals to teach the children.  They even had a school building, which we used to convene a session with some of the kids from the villages, whom I gave crayons and paper to so they could have an activity while we were there.  Upon our return to Malakal, we purchased the supplies and made arrangements to get lesson books so that classes could begin again.  The food is essential, but right behind it is the need to have the next generation prepared to lead the Nuba when the conflicts are over.  Without education they know they have little chance of success and more likelihood of remaining a marginalized and forgotten people.