South Sudan: AWEIL COMMUNITY ORPHANS FEEDING PROGRAMME (ACOFP)

NEED:  South Sudan is the newest country in the world and is home to 12 million people with an orphan population that is growing.

Children here are born into a very unstable society; and face many risks, to include armed conflict and hunger, and need special care and protection.  There are so many of these children that have lost 1 or both of their parents and many more live in abject poverty.  With armed conflict and disease, to include HIV/AIDS, many continue to lose parents leaving no one to care for them.  In addition, South Sudan has one of the world’s highest child mortality rates: 160 out of every 1,000 children die before reaching the age of five, 1/3 of children under five are stunted, and are more than 25% underweight. There are over one million children in South Sudan that do not go to primary school.  Many are forced to work to have something to eat.  Children also work in exploitative conditions, and those without protection -the orphans, are at risk of violence, abduction, or recruitment into armed groups.

ACHEIVEMENTS:  Since February 2016 we have been feeding 300 orphaned children through this partnership.  This program has taken on heightened level of importance based on the continued armed conflict in the region.  This program is critical for the nutritional needs of these children.  As an added benefit, they receive educational instruction and soul-saving biblical guidance.

Since the start of the program in 2016 we have provided 109,500 meals to orphaned children at two locations.  We were also able to help in 2016 and 2017 with malaria and deworming medication due to very limited access of these lifesaving drugs.

In addition, we have begun a sustainability effort for the program with an investment and deployment of a sorghum grinder that will offset a portion of the costs of food provided monthly.

HISTORY:  This program came out of a three-year long-distance relationship with Reverend Garang Chan who serves in Northern Bhar el Ghazal State in South Sudan.

The program involves a school feeding operation in two villages, namely Adoor Village (Aweil East) and Beliek Village (Aweil South) in turn, increase access to education and improved nutrition for 300 orphaned children is provided.  With the ongoing conflict continuing in South Sudan, food security is an increasing concern, with many of these children not receiving any sustenance except for what they receive through this program. 

The primary education net enrollment rate in Northern Bhar el Ghazal State is very low, and the number of children completing primary education is poor because of high dropout rates and minimal progression rates.  Malnutrition is common among children and low attendance at school is predominantly attributed to sickness or hunger. 

Our program meets the development needs of Aweil South County and Aweil East County, both in Northern Bhar el Ghazal State, by contributing to the goal of universal primary education that targets children living in areas of poverty and food insecurity.  By removing barriers to education, such as hunger, we can improve outcomes for more vulnerable children.

Our partner in South Sudan is Christ Mission to the World.  Together we are providing school supplemental feeding as a strategy to keep children in school as well as, to get children who have dropped-out to come back and continue with their educational pursuits.  Of greatest concern however, are the orphaned girls, some as young as 11 years of age, who are forced by circumstances to drop out of school to marry older men to enable them to support their younger siblings.  These girls apparently turn to their former teachers for emotional support, openly admitting that early marriage is not the best option for their circumstances after all, and that they would opt to go back to school where they can receive a second chance if they had the opportunity.

Aweil Community Orphans Feeding Programme (ACOFP) is in partnership with Christ Mission to the World.  This program was launched in February 2016 with no outside commitments for funding due to children that were going hungry in the Aweil, South Sudan area.  This program was doing a similar work that ended in mid-2015 due to a lack of funding.  Global Orphan Relief has stepped in to advocate for these hungry children based on faith alone.  In addition to daily feedings (now 5-days per week), bible clubs and lessons will be provided to the children.

The board of Global Orphan Relief was also blessed to have met with Pastor Garang in July 2017, in Colorado, and mapped out a go forward strategy to stabilize our effort so feed orphans in South Sudan.  Today, there are 1,200 orphaned children at 4-locations in need to nutrition, and an additional 250 at the two sites where we already serve.  We hope to expand our efforts to cover for children with life-saving necessities. 

OBJECTIVE:  The overall objective is to improve access of orphaned children to basic education, and particularly by those food insecure villages of Adoor Village (Aweil East) and Beliek Village (Aweil Central) initially.  This includes retention of these children to attend school on an ongoing basis.

We see real opportunity for orphaned children to stay with extended family, and have the availability to attend a school that provides the nutrition that they need.  There are so many benefits for the child to be with extended family and not be relocated to an orphanage simply because the extended family has limited resources.  In addition, there are real possibilities for the cycle of poverty to be broken given that these children will receive an education that is available and taken advantage of when food is an added benefit.

This is just the start with our partners Christ Mission to the World to provide food, education, and biblical instruction to the orphans of South Sudan.  When this funding is secured we can then consider an additional 500+ orphans at two additional locations.

FUNDING SOURCE:  To fund ACOFP we have relied on the GO! general fund for 97% of the funding of the $29,884 invested in 2016.  This program is not sustainable through Q2 2017, though we have received $11,500 in 2017 for this effort.  This funding as minimized our deficit for 2017 to ($6,106) for this program.  To help us fund this program today go to https://globalorphanrelief.networkforgood.com/projects/22817-south-sudan-feeding-programand begin making a difference in a child’s life in a highly impactful way today.

BUDGET:  Based on current expenditure and expected number of children (300) in 2017 enrolled in the ACOFP Program, our goal and need for a fully funded budget is $43,200.  Through June we have invested $18,026 in this partnership to provide food and medicine for 300 orphaned children.

CAPITAL:  We have no capital budget for this program, however, we have invested to deploy a sorghum grinder to establish sustainability for this program.  This capital investment will provide for less dependence on month-to-month basis for support from GO!.  Based on positive results, additional funds for investment may be made available.

Movement of FAITH   |   Voice of HOPE   |   Act of LOVE

Global Orphan Relief is a Christian relief agency serving Orphans in need and a recognized U.S. public charity, tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3).  All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law.