Sudan Sunrise
Dear friends,
Deng, pictured here, lived 53 years in Sudan, working as a merchant. With hard work, he grew his business and even bought a truck. When war erupted in Sudan this past April, Deng tried to keep his family safe. But marauding soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces invaded his home, stole his truck, and raped his wife, Achel, leaving her broken and lying in the dirt. They were still hiding out in their home less than three weeks later when an Antonov plane from Sudan’s Air Force opened fire killing Achel and three of their children. Deng, determined to protect his three surviving children, set out for South Sudan. But Sudanese border guards blocked their way, demanding a bribe. John Akot, former Headmaster of the Manute Bol School, alerted us to their plight. Sudan Sunrise immediately wired the funds. Fourteen of John Akot's relatives, including Deng and his three children, have made it safely to Turalei.
Abuk, in the red dress “Thank you for helping us escape Sudan. May God give you long life and bless your efforts for the vulnerable.”
Now multiply that story. South Sudan Women United, with whom Sudan Sunrise has served as fiscal partner for the past ten years, has heroically evacuated over 11,000 refugees from Sudan. This October in New York City SSWU will be awarded Refugee International's 2023 Leadership Award (https://www.refugeesinternational.org/events-and-testimony/2023-advocacy-awards/).
Currently, Sudan Sunrise and SSWU are seeking a USAID grant to relocate those 11,000 refugees from the disease-ridden and flooded temporary camps near the border to proper places to settle in South Sudan.
But of all the victims, Western Darfurians suffered some of the most severe atrocities at the hands of the RSF. Three PhD-level Darfurians in the US are working with Sudan Sunrise to get emergency relief to the four refugee camps in Chad and to witness the needs. We will send a team of two Darfurians, two Southern Sudanese, and me to the camps. From this we hope to evoke greater aid for Western Darfurians, and also greater mobilization of Southern Sudanese helping their sisters and brothers from Darfur.
Bishop Abraham Nhial is a wonderful example of what a Southern Sudanese can do to help Darfurians. His Diocese of Aweil borders Darfur to the South, and Abraham already has 150 Darfurian students in his diocesan schools. He is appealing for emergency relief for the thousands of refugees that have come into his diocese. Abraham also received an unexpected gift of $30,000 to build a wall for St. Mary's Girl's School. The wall at St. Mary's, which is essential for the girl's safety, requires an additional $30,000. Once complete, St. Mary's will need $20,000 to open and provide secondary education to 300 girls, including Darfurian girls.
In June Bishop Abraham and I had the honor to thank Dr. Saroj Mankau in person for her extraordinary work building six classrooms and rebuilding the roof for the new classrooms at the Manute Bol School, which was blown off in a fierce storm.
Mama Saroj, as Abraham calls her, also funded a far-reaching effort to plant and teach the benefits of the Moringa tree. With Cornelius Abass and Bishop Abraham, millions of seeds were distributed, and training on the nutritional value of the leaves was widely disseminated. Mama Saroj made this initiative possible with an extraordinary gift in honor of her late husband, Dr. Ron Mankau. Thanks to Mama Saroj and Dr. Ron, for decades to come, South Sudanese will benefit from the leaves of the Moringa, aptly called the Tree of Life.