Reports of ethnic conflict within Sudan started pouring in a couple of months ago, but little did we expect that more than 20K people would end up fleeing their homes as a result. Many of the families, who are Nuba people escaping from persecution outside of the Nuba Mountains, have returned with little but the clothes on their backs. Our mission is to provide for both the spiritual and physical needs of the Sudanese, so we are readying emergency relief of food and other necessities to support the provisional government’s efforts to absorb these refugees.GNAC has identified at least 75 families it plans to provide with blankets, tarps, soap, and basic food items to help with their resettlement. Our ongoing programs in literacy, agriculture, and development will help increase the capacity of the hosts to create sustainable solutions to the urgent crisis unfolding today.You gift of any amount will go a long way to alleviating the suffering of people caught between a mountain and a hard placehttps://youtu.be/ZvyJTOVcyPg
Nuba students in early grades (P1) are usually learning outdoors in all weather conditions ranging from rain to blistering sun and 100+ degree temperatures”
“Only 15% of school aged children regularly attend primary or secondary school, less than 5% advance to college or trade schools after graduation”
Fourth grade class under a tree at the Sudan Church of Christ outside Kauda, Nuba Mountains
“Children learning in inadequate classrooms with limited school supplies, often crowded with poorly equipped teachers”
Education and Literacy – Launching GO SPELL
Decades of civil war and marginalization have denied even basic education to roughly 1 million school-aged children in the embattled Nuba Mountains region, where the illiteracy rate is estimated to be over 70%. English and Arabic are two official languages there, and the language of instruction is English. Even among the relatively few students in schools today, many are unable to achieve fluency because of a dearth of trained instructors. (Less than 7.5% of school-aged children attend formal school regularly) The GO SPELL project proposes to address the need of basic teacher training and student English language acquisition by establishing teacher training groups in the midst of the oral culture of Nuba Mountains. These groups will study training material through the use of digital audio players (DAPs). DAPs will be loaded with basic teacher instruction and specific information on teaching introductory English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Our goal is to raise $50,000 by the end of 2020 for this project. You can help by starting a fundraising campaign below or making a donation at the top of this page.
Agriculture and Economic Advancement
After the GNAC VI International Conference, agriculture training was held in Kauda Payam with GNAC partner and adviser Daniel Janzen of ACROSS, South Sudan. The training focused on how to develop, manage and use local natural resources, specifically for vegetables and fruits as cash crops. This training also touched on holistic elements to impact the community and make a good use of the Nuba land and river beds and water catchment areas for sustainable development. 30 participants from surrounding areas attended, along with representatives from other faith-based NGOs operating in the region.
GNAC is making broader plans for using agriculture as a base for holistic community-based development, encouraging the Nuba in an area with which they are very familiar and have the capacity to grow exponentially under the right conditions.
Mary Badawi, Secretary, opening the conference
Next is the photo of the conference itself held in a local church with over 150 attendees in total
International attendees representing over 13 countries and six continents
Other Areas of Partnership
Active partners of GNAC are working together on implementation of existing plans, as well as developing new projects and initiatives to build the presence of the coalition and its partners in the region. Only by effecting real change in Nuba Mts will the Church remain relevant.
Gospel – AIM, V 5:9, Timothy Initiative, Christ Commission Fellowship, MACC
Education – ACROSS, Calvary Church Dalles OR, CDO Baptist Tucson AZ
Capacity Building – IAS, Global Hope International, NCDO, Mother Mercy Hospital, ACROSS, One Tribe
“Let us see that we keep God before our eyes; that we walk in His ways and seek to please and glorify Him in everything, great and small. Depend upon it, God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supplies.”
Hudson Taylor
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