Our Four Projects - aimed at laying a balanced, healthy foundation for the development of Majok-Chediop.

Water Supply:

Currently there is a completely inadequate water supply for these thousands of people. When there is water, it is less clean and loaded with bacteria and parasites. The use of this water is the cause of sickness, weakness and death. In the dry season, rivers turn to mud, and people are forced to drink even less healthy water. They are forced to walk miles to carry inadequate water home to their families.

It will be necessary to get government approval for a new well. A hydrographical survey must be done to make sure a well is deep enough, and that it does not impinge on neighboring ground water rights. The well itself will cost at least $15,000, and then a system for maintenance, distribution, and fair access to all must be developed and implemented.  The group who helps us with this piece is found at - http://www.waterforsudan.org/

The government requires that a well be in place before building a school. Thus, this is the first of our four projects.

Basic Education:

Hundreds of school aged children grow up with inadequate schooling. They sit outside under a tree in good weather, and in the rainy season they don’t hold school at all. The teachers use a hand-held chalk board. The students share the few books, and write their math and writing lessons in the dirt on the ground with a stick. They typically only attend school from the ages of 10 to 12 years. There are not nearly enough teachers, one teacher taking on a class of 40 students of very broad levels of learning.                                                                   

School – The school will be planned to take care of the needs of 400 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. We will need to build 6 large classrooms to house the classes, plus offices for each of the teachers, a library, an administrative office, and a teaching supply room. The school will open with two grades to begin with, kindergarten and first grade. An additional grade will be added each year until there are six.  

This building will cost about $22,000.00 U.S. dollars. The cost of supplies, such as chalk boards, books, desks, and paper, chalk and pencils, will be about $6,000 initially, and another $2,000 yearly. Teachers will be hired for about $2,000 per year. All of this will have to be raised and supported through donations such as yours – until the system becomes self sustaining – in about 3 years.

Medical Care:

The rural, southern Sudanese people are subjected to malaria, cholera, parasitic diseases and related digestive issues, tuberculosis, and yellow fever. There are many musculo-skeletal issues due to their physical lifestyle. Eye problems are common due to the dusty air and parasitic infestation. Through all of this, there is care from herbs and traditional folk-remedies, but far too few trained medical personnel. A second option is to travel to a larger city to buy medicine, but this is simple, over-the-counter medication, and is often mis-prescribed because there is no doctor involved.  This is quite inadequate for proper care, and results in chronic, untreated disease and early death. The clinic in Yirol is overtaxed, to far away, and too expensive for most of the rural people to get

care at a higher level.                                           

The vision is to build, train for, equip, and staff a medical clinic to meet the health-care needs of these people. A building, equipment, ongoing supplies, and staff for these needs will cost an initial $45,000, plus an ongoing investment of $10,000 yearly until the area becomes more self sustaining.

Spiritual Vitality:

The church currently meets in an open-sided ‘building’ that seats too few. They sit on the dirt ground, or on logs, or on dried mud ‘chairs’.

Church – To adequately meet the spiritual needs of the people, a building will be built to house a non-denominational congregation. The goal is to lower the traditional tribal stresses, and allow people to come together in worship and peace. The building will be large enough to seat 300 people, protected from sun and rain. The walls on three sides are open to allow ventilation, and to allow overflow crowds to be able to listen and participate.

This is an inexpensive, but important piece of the health of this area. The building itself is not a very pricey one, costing only about $18,000. Training and staffing the pastoral team will become self sustaining quite quickly, but will require an initial $7,000.