60 million girls in Malakal, South Sudan

We have arrived in Malakal in South Sudan, our last stop on the African continent. Here we partnered with War Child Canada (WCC), an organization that has been implementing education and peace-building programming in South Sudan since 2012, and is the sole provider of secondary education for IDPs and returnees in Malakal.

The project sought to provide quality education for girls in South Sudan, where 76% of girls are out of school and the literacy rate is 36%. The use of Mobile Learning Labs (MLLs) increased the quality of education, fostered self-directed learning, improved critical thinking and enhanced the supportive learning environment for girls. With the help of trained teachers and volunteers, librarians ran after-school MLL classes for 200 out-of-school girls.

Welcome to South Sudan!

Facts about South Sudan

• South Sudan is the youngest country in the world, having gained its independence from Sudan in 2011 after a bloody civil war.
• However, the last decade has been marked by armed conflict, immense poverty and hunger, leaving two-thirds of the population in dire need of humanitarian support.
• More than 5 million children have been displaced and 3 million children suffer from severe food insecurity. Girls are particularly vulnerable to abuse and child marriage.

Education in South Sudan

• The conflict has destroyed or damaged almost two-thirds of the nation’s schools.
• More than 2 million school-aged children are out-of-school and some 1.3 million children at risk of dropping out of education altogether.
• Only 27% of the adult population is literate.

It is NOT safe to hike in South Sudan

South Sudan has an abundance of wildlife including giraffes, buffalos, lions, elephants and hartebeest. Boma National Park, for instance, is home to one of the largest migrations of antelope as they move in search of good grazing land. Unfortunately, however, South Sudan is not a country in which it is safe to travel.