Monday, March 15, 2010

GETTING PEACE THROUGH THE PEN:SOUTHERN SUDAN STUDENTS TURN TO KENYA

GETTING PEACE THROUGH THE PEN

Sudanese students turn to Kenya for education as they hold meeting in city estate.
By Nyambega Gisesa.

Garang Malong Awan is the son of a very rich governor from Southern Sudan. In Sudan, he enjoys the trappings of power and wealth and can afford education anywhere in the world.

But his heart is right inside Kenya at the University of Nairobi where he pursues a degree in Law.

“I love Kenya. It is not only me but other Sudanese students also love studying in Kenyan schools and universities,” Garang Malong named like most Southern Sudanese male the name Garang after first man who was created by God with his wife Abuk according to Dinka cultural believes and after his death he became divine told Sunday Nation.
His love for the education has seen him join hands with other students from Southern Sudan in Kenya to encourage more Sudanese to pursue education in their country of choice-Kenya.
Gatkubai, is the initiative to get peace through the pen and is being spearheaded by Garang Malong.Through the initiative they encourage young Sudanese people to use education as their weapon for peace instead of guns.

Garang Malong came to the country after the death of Southern Sudan leader Dr.John Garang choosing to ignore persistent calls from his governor father to join prestigious universities in the US and UK.


Unlike him, Garang Mareng’ was only ten years when he came to Kenya as a refugeefrom Sudan in 1992 following continuous civil wars.

As a refugee, even in wildest dream, he never envisaged a time when he will be through with his schooling. “Life was about getting only the basic needs such as foods and shelter,” he recalls.
Nearly two decades later, he has gone through the Kenyan education system and in June this year he will earn his Bachelor Commerce degree from KCA University having also completed CPA-K from the same institution.


“I am ready to go back to my country and assist in rebuilding my country. I am still afraid to go back since I left several years ago and I don’t know about developments that have been going on since then,” Mareng’ says.

Once he ran away with his family he swore never to get back but his change of heart has been influenced by the relative peace and stability in the country witnessed after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Nairobi in 2005 spearheaded by the late Dr. John Garang.“I would like to go back and seek a job there, preferably with the National Bank of Sudan,” he told the writer after concluding the Sudan Students Annual meeting last Saturday held at a church in Komarock Estate.At least 50 students turned out for the Annual Student Meeting of theSouthern Sudan Students in Kenya. The students were from mainly high schools and universities.
South Sudan Students Association in Kenya is a non political and non profitable organization with an aim of bringing the Sudanese students in Kenya together and to liaise between the students and the Government of Southern Sudan
The S. Sudan Consulate in Nairobi would not confirm the exact number of Sudanese students studying in Kenya but choose to refer Sunday Nation to the South Sudan Students Association in Kenya.
It is estimated that there are at least 1082 college and university student and 932 secondary school students registered in Nairobi, according to Dona Kuech the Deputy Chairperson of the Southern Sudan Student Association who is in charge of student registration.
“There are thousands of pupils enjoying the Free Primary Education in Kenya but its very difficult to establish the exact number as by now but we are doing our best to tell parents to register their children who are studying in various primary schools in the country,” the student association’s vice-chairperson Dona Kuech told Sunday Nation.
Most of these students have the hopes of finishing theirs studies and going back to Southern Sudan to find their families and help them.
Speaking at the meeting, their chairman Malong Awan, condemned the recent killing of Kenyans, who were murdered in the Southern Sudan capital Juba,
“Kenyans are good people and good hosts to us, we don’t want anything that might jeopardize our stay here,” the third year Journalism student at the University of Nairobi said.The meeting at Komarock the Grace of God Church was set to deliberate on the challenges they face as foreign student in Kenya. Some of them have been staying around since their childhood and it is like their mother country.Some of their challenges include lack of affordable accommodation facilities, insecurity, and inaccessibility to proper medical facilities as well as learning facilities.
Ever since Sudan obtained independence in 1956, the country has beenravaged in intermittent wars, the longest running from 1983 to 2003.Two million people have died in the wars. While the South isclamouring for an autonomous government, the Darfur region is stillrecovering from the genocide that has nearly claimed half a millionlives.As a result of the war, the country lacks proper learning facilities,sufficient qualified personnel and other necessary infrastructure thatcan facilitate learning for its population that desperately needscompetent education.Consequently many such young men and women seek refuge in neighbouringcountries such as Kenya and Uganda and pursue the respective educationsystems in their countries of choice.

According to World Vision, child enrolment in Southern Sudan to schools is the second lowest in the world after Afghanistan. UNFPA estimates that literacy rates in Southern Sudan stand at a paltry 24%. In addition, gender discrepancies are quite pronounced in South Sudan compared to the North. For example, literacy rates for male and females in North Sudan stand at 71% and 52% respectively while it stands at 37% and 12% literacy rate for males and females in Southern Sudan.

A consular officer at the Sudan Embassy in the country, Atem Garang says that Kenya has provided Southern Sudan a chance to improve its literacy levels.
“Southern Sudan people have come to love the Kenyan education system which offers quality education to our people considering that the civil war in our country adversely affected our education system,” Atem Garang told Sunday Nation through a phone interview.
The civil war between a Christian south and a Muslim-dominated north in Sudan saw thousand of Sudanese people mostly from Southern Sudan end up in refuge camps in Kenya notably the famous or infamous Kakuma Refugee Camp in North Eastern.
“It’s as Kakuma Refugee Camp that Southern Sudan refugees were introduced to the Kenyan system of education. Most of them learnt at the camp and nearby schools and when they went back they encouraged others to come and study in Kenya,” Atem Garang said.
The Kenyan education system has also been introduced to schools in Sudan.
680 students from southern Sudan sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations (KCPE) last year according to KNEC. The examinations were administered in Southern Sudan, the first time that Kenya’s national examinations were shared with a foreign country since the abolition of the East African Examinations Council.
"Sudan candidates will sit for the same exam alongside Kenyans," KNEC Senior Deputy Secretary in charge of exams and administration Edah Muiruri told teachers during a briefing for District Education Officers and exam officials at Kisumu Girls Secondary School in November last year.
“Most women were killed during the wars. Some got married as teenagers. Our customs too have served as barriers but we are getting more and more of them to school,” asserts their leader Malong Awan.Now the students currently in Kenyan schools want their government to work expediently towards achieving fully stability and embarking on rebuilding and restructuring the country. They also want their two governments to work towards creating job opportunities, since finding jobs locally, once they have completed their studies is hard.“Employment opportunities in Kenya are scarce and since we are competing with locals, we are obviously disadvantaged,” Ken Awol, a 27 years’ old Human Resource student at Moi University who traveled to the event says.Those in schools are privileged since most of their colleagues who cannot access the limited facilities have succumbed drugs and crime.For now, they hope that well-wishers as well Non-Governmental Organizations that fund part of their tuition and accommodation in the country will continue even as they appeal for more funds.“We really appeal for more help financially to help us achieve our academic dreams and go back to our country to rebuild it,” appeals Taban Lino.

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