Some e-mails are not worth the time to read, and some are life-changing. Last night I read one of Angelo's:
"I would like to inform you that the land for the orphanage school has been given to us by the elders of Wunlang Payam."
Wunlang gives its name to our village and to the payam (the next level down from the county); we now have the support of regional leaders as well as the village.
The site is on a good road between Aweil and Rumathoi; accessible, but "a very big land" with room for a orphanage, a school, athletic fields, and a farm. "It is so green with a lot of trees on it." It looks like a perfect site for our goal to teach agriculture and other vocations as well as academics.
Now we need the funding to build. Then we will be changing the lives of the street kids of Aweil, and providing a model for all of South Sudan. But what an astonishing step forward. The elders of Wunlang Payam have placed their trust in us, and we will live up to it.
"I would like to inform you that the land for the orphanage school has been given to us by the elders of Wunlang Payam."
Wunlang gives its name to our village and to the payam (the next level down from the county); we now have the support of regional leaders as well as the village.
The site is on a good road between Aweil and Rumathoi; accessible, but "a very big land" with room for a orphanage, a school, athletic fields, and a farm. "It is so green with a lot of trees on it." It looks like a perfect site for our goal to teach agriculture and other vocations as well as academics.
Now we need the funding to build. Then we will be changing the lives of the street kids of Aweil, and providing a model for all of South Sudan. But what an astonishing step forward. The elders of Wunlang Payam have placed their trust in us, and we will live up to it.
06/20: We Listen to the Small Voice
The Harvard Divinity School Bulletin arrived in my mailbox this week with an absolutely terrific essay, "Listening to the Small Voice: Toward an Orphan Theology" by Elizabeth J. A. Siwo-Okundi. A holder of a Master of Theology degree from Harvard, and of a Master of Divinity Degree from Boston University, Ms. Siwo-Okundi tells of her field work in an orphanage in her Kenyan homeland, and all that that has led to.
She writes: "It is widely argued that traditional African societies did not have 'orphans,' since the care of children whose parents had died was generally absorbed in one of many ways: by the kinship group/extended family, through various forms of marriage, by the greater community, and through other creative and socially acceptable arrangements . ... Traditional arrangements assumed the stability of the kinship group/extended family and community. They also assumed random and sporadic death, not deaths on a massive scale, from numerous causes." In South Sudan, 21 years of civil war has wreaked havoc on traditional families and their ability to care for children. And so we see street kids wandering Aweil.
In the Old Testament, "God is depicted as having extraordinary concern for the orphans and widows of the time, and demanding that the people also share and act upon that concern." In her article Ms. Siwo-Okundi writes in detail about orphans and widows mentioned in the Bible. And she calls for an "orphan theology ... to provide space for {orphans'} voices to be heard in conversation with biblical orphans, thereby encouraging oral retellings of their own experiences. The voices of African children are critical in a small voice engagement; this cannot be a theological conversation confined to academic circles."
Village Help for South Sudan is a secular organization, but many things that Ms. Siwo-Okundi writes about resonate with our experience. We do have a call to help the helpless. We also want orphans' small voices to be heard. Telling their stories, when they are ready to do so, will help bring healing, and our plans will include the kind of group discussions that facilitate this healing.
I also think Village Help for South Sudan can learn some practical lessons from Ms. Siwo-Okundi also about best practices in this endeavor. We'll be networking with her and with others who are listening to those small voices, alone on the African streets.
She writes: "It is widely argued that traditional African societies did not have 'orphans,' since the care of children whose parents had died was generally absorbed in one of many ways: by the kinship group/extended family, through various forms of marriage, by the greater community, and through other creative and socially acceptable arrangements . ... Traditional arrangements assumed the stability of the kinship group/extended family and community. They also assumed random and sporadic death, not deaths on a massive scale, from numerous causes." In South Sudan, 21 years of civil war has wreaked havoc on traditional families and their ability to care for children. And so we see street kids wandering Aweil.
In the Old Testament, "God is depicted as having extraordinary concern for the orphans and widows of the time, and demanding that the people also share and act upon that concern." In her article Ms. Siwo-Okundi writes in detail about orphans and widows mentioned in the Bible. And she calls for an "orphan theology ... to provide space for {orphans'} voices to be heard in conversation with biblical orphans, thereby encouraging oral retellings of their own experiences. The voices of African children are critical in a small voice engagement; this cannot be a theological conversation confined to academic circles."
Village Help for South Sudan is a secular organization, but many things that Ms. Siwo-Okundi writes about resonate with our experience. We do have a call to help the helpless. We also want orphans' small voices to be heard. Telling their stories, when they are ready to do so, will help bring healing, and our plans will include the kind of group discussions that facilitate this healing.
I also think Village Help for South Sudan can learn some practical lessons from Ms. Siwo-Okundi also about best practices in this endeavor. We'll be networking with her and with others who are listening to those small voices, alone on the African streets.
05/25: Aweil Orphanage and School
Sudan's severe civil war between South and North lasted for decades. Although not labeled as such, this genocide ruined natural and human resources and left an estimated 2 million people killed, 4 million internally displaced, and others taking refuge in neighboring countries and many other distant locations. Homes and villages were destroyed. Families were torn apart. Women and children were the most severely affected, and they have been the war’s most unfortunate victims. Women were left widows, and children were orphaned in all Southern Sudan areas affected by the war. Uncontrolled behaviors by demobilized soldiers and others have resulted in childbirth outside the traditional marriage system. It is the culture of Southern Sudan for extended families to care for all children, but that has proved to be overwhelming for families strained by years of war, disease, and hunger. Homeless children are now spread all over the towns of Southern Sudan. They live as beggars on the streets, hopeless and unable to enjoy life in their society. Having lost their parents in the conflict and to disease, they have also lost their education, their homes, and opportunity to grow into productive adults.
Village Help for South Sudan proposes to build an orphanage and school to serve the needs of an ever-growing population of orphans and homeless children in Aweil. Our strategy is to fund the project through a cooperation with international organizations, private donations, and a co-investment partnership with the government of the state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal, with all parties collaborating on the design and implementation of the facility and its programs.
Village Help for South Sudan proposes to build an orphanage and school to serve the needs of an ever-growing population of orphans and homeless children in Aweil. Our strategy is to fund the project through a cooperation with international organizations, private donations, and a co-investment partnership with the government of the state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal, with all parties collaborating on the design and implementation of the facility and its programs.
