by Dr Callum Henderson
Our Child Support Project in South Sudan – what difference is it making?
Fantastic Team
Our Child Support Project in South Sudan is still a relatively new project, with a grass roots team doing fantastic work in the midst of very difficult circumstances. War, extreme poverty, food shortages and economic weakness mean 91.9% of the population is defined as ‘multi-dimensionally poor’ and 55% facing acute food insecurity. The project, based on the outskirts of Juba at Gumbo, aims to bring hope and a better future to the poorest children there.
Over the past months the Comfort South Sudan team have faced some very real challenges. Covid-19 has pushed up the costs of some foodstuffs threefold and hiked project costs. The Nile has been exceptionally full and has flooded the project area resulting in some project children needing temporary accommodation in tents. Conflict has spilled onto the streets of Gumbo and one of the children has been kidnapped and is still missing.
Good Progress
Despite those challenges, the project has made good progress, with support from both sponsors and the Philip Henman Trust being crucial. Recently David Gasana from Comfort Rwanda, which is overseeing the project, visited the project, carried out some training for the team there and has been able to report back to us. He was also able to deliver some cards and gifts from sponsors which were very special for the children.
All the children of school age are now accessing nursery or primary/secondary school. Lockdown has meant that schooling has been disrupted, but the teachers have visited the children at home and supported them to continue learning at home.
Small Businesses
As with all our Street Kids Rescue/Child support projects the goal is to support children in appropriate home situations where possible. Most of the South Sudan children are in relatives’/guardians’ homes – a large number have lost one or both parents in the countries interminable violence of the last decade. Part of the project goal is to help those guardians/relatives develop income generating activities which can provide greater stability in the home and begin to point a way forward to future self-sustainability. Among the small businesses set up are doughnut baking and selling, milk selling, sewing and knitting. Support has also been given to carry out some house repairs.
Health and Hunger
Children’s health also needs support, with mosquito nets and access to health clinics providing them with much improved health. Food support has been one of the biggest project achievements as many of the children were frequently going to bed hungry and spending extended periods up to several days without eating. Beans, rice and posho (moist cassava ‘bread’) are the staples. Christmas was a special time of celebration and the children received Christmas presents of new shoes and project shirts.
Sponsorship
There are now 50 children on the project with 21 sponsored. Finding sponsors for the children of South Sudan is a high priority for us – it is a desperately poor and challenging situation, but we believe the local team are doing a great work to bring transformation to the children and encourage to be partner with us and them in securing a hope and a future for those children.