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Compassion, education, Africa and us

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Contributed by: Martha Riley on 9/26/2006

The Dalai Lama recently stated that "modern education does not seem adequate" to teach compassion. In this era of standardized testing and accountability, this certainly threatens to be a reality.

But Project Education Sudan, a local non-profit, provides a way for local schools and their students to show compassion to children in Southern Sudan where two generations have gone uneducated due to civil war.

PES was founded a year ago after Denver resident Carol Rinehart traveled to Sudan with Isaac Khor Bher to be reunified with his mother after twenty years. Isaac is one of Denver's 'Lost Boys' - boys who fled their villages 20 years ago to escape death from government-sponsored troops, similar to what is happening in Darfur today. Overall, 2.2 million people died in this planned genocide; few people knew about it because there was little media attention at the time.

The Lost Boys walked barefoot 1,000 miles in 30 days to Ethiopia where survivors lived for four years until they again had to flee for safety. It took them a year to walk back through Sudan and eventually into Kenya where they grew up in refugee camps. Of the estimated 30,000 who fled their homes, only about half survived. Six years ago, the U.S. government sponsored around 4,000 Lost Boys in coming to America; about 70 of them live in the Denver-Boulder area where they attend college, work, and make plans to help their country.

In the village of Konbeek, where the family reunification took place, Isaac and Carol saw firsthand the devastation brought on by 20 years of civil war. School in Konbeek is a large tree where children sit, learning from teacher volunteers. Carol and Isaac returned to Denver committed to helping the children of Southern Sudan. Project Education Sudan was born.

The first school is being built in the region of Maar/Paliau. PES members will travel to Southern Sudan in December to reunify four more Lost Boys with their found families, check on progress of this school, and meet with village elders in Konbeek to plan for the second school. The goal of building schools has expanded to include installing solar energy systems, drilling wells for clean water, teaching accounting systems and new construction techniques, and engaging in teacher training and curriculum development. Lives are being changed in Southern Sudan because of people in Denver.

Compassion is indeed being taught in modern schools. Students in Littleton and Cherry Creek have opened their hearts and their pockets to help. As they learn about Sudan, they begin to understand that we are part of an entire world community where education is the key to hope for the future for all of us.

"This fundraising has had a huge impact on me and our class, because we were able to raise all this money for a good cause . . . It makes me feel good to know we just did not hear about a problem and moved on, but did something to help." Marci Davis
"The Sudan project had a big impact on me, because it made me think of the bigger picture in life, not just myself." Kiara Williams

"Young people do not always get a chance to help others and make an impact on others' lives." Alex Smith

These comments by Eaglecrest High School AVID students demonstrate that Project Education Sudan is not only helping Africa, it is helping us.

For more information about PES, go to projecteducationsudan.org.

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Martha Riley

Centennial , CO

Martha Riley has posted 1 story and 0 comments since joining on 9/16/2006. Martha Riley 's average story rating is 0.

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