HELP US CARE FOR THE ORPHANS
What are the needs?
Our goal is to work with the local church and local community to address the immediate and long term needs of Jikow.
Food & Housing
Our goal is to establish an orphanage for children who have lost their families due to the war or the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Sudan. Even families who remain intact are often unable to feed and care for their children, so they release them into the streets to provide for themselves. They are officially classified as destitute. We want to build a center for both the orphaned children and the other destitute children of Jikow. The center will house a feeding center for the orphaned children to eat meals and have baby formula. It will also provide a safe and secure area for the village children to play.
Education
The closest school to Jikow is 5 miles away which is about a 2 hour walk one way. It is located across the Nile, so students must cross the Nile to get to school. This also means they can not take books home because they would be ruined in the water. About 80% of the people in South Sudan are illiterate. Girls rarely go past 4th grade.
Medical Care
Although the South Sudanese constitution actually guarantees free medical care for every citizen, the budget for medical care literally comes out to enough for a box of band aids for every citizen. South Sudan has lacked real medical care for a long time. Currently the nearest medical care is 4 hours away in Ethiopia.