NSD 03 - GIVING NEW LIFE TO SUDAN
Project Location
The Comboni Sisters had been present in Sudan since 1872 and carried out various ministries: educational, social, healthcare, and catechetical pastoral care, all carried out with dedication, passion, and love, in collaboration with the local Church, government authorities, and the local people.
The war that suddenly broke out in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, on April 15, 2023, quickly spread to nearby cities and in the following months spread to most of Sudan.
A "power struggle between two military groups for control of the state" is the cause of the conflict that, still ongoing, particularly in western areas of the country such as Darfur and Kordofan, has triggered one of the most serious humanitarian crises and disrupted the lives of thousands of families, many of whom have been forced to flee and seek refuge outside the country's borders. As with all long-term armed conflicts, the war in Sudan has not only disrupted all our activities, but has also damaged public and private buildings and increased petty crime and looting.
We are tentatively making plans to return to the Omdurman area, where we had to flee at the outbreak of the war, abandoning everything: home and school.
Project description
Sudan, especially now, needs schools to rebuild peaceful coexistence among its multi-ethnic and multi-religious populations and to try to heal the wounds left by the war, especially among the youngest, so they can look to the future with hope. For this reason, we would like to start again with the Comboni School (an institution established in 1900), which we recently rebuilt with five classrooms to accommodate 150 girls (30 per classroom).
To achieve this, we will need to purchase teaching materials, hygiene and cleaning products, food to ensure the girls have a meal, fans for the classrooms, and the installation of solar panels to provide electricity for the entire compound. Furthermore, we would like to help the girls' families overcome the trauma caused by the conflict through educational activities, awareness of the war they have experienced and its consequences, and awareness of trauma, its symptoms, and its effects.
Objectives
- Promote and improve the situation of the population by trying to heal the wounds left by the war.
- Restart the school by collaborating with the local community, working together to reinstate the ethical and moral values that have always distinguished the Comboni School: a school open to all, regardless of religion, ethnicity, culture, or age.
- Pay special attention to the care of mothers and girls from families in need, to restore hope and the desire to rebuild their lives.
Beneficiaries
Direct: 150 girls
Indirect: families and society
Referent sister of the project: Sr. Cristina Maestroni
Project's costs