Longamere School

Thanks to support we are really achieving things at Longamere in south Sudan.

We are delighted to be able to report back on the progress of the new classrooms at Longamere Primary School in South Sudan.

We are incredibly thankful to our supporters who at our Savoy Ball back in September 2011 pledged to support this school which has a desperate need for new classrooms to allow the children to learn in a proper environment.

BACKGROUND

The civil war in South Sudan came to an end in January 2005. During the conflict four million people left their homes and fled to refugee camps in neighbouring countries, some families simply went and lived in the bush.

Since 2005 families have been returning to their homes, and are now rebuilding their lives and their communities.

Longamere is situated approximately 13 miles to the south of Yei, on the main road between Yei and the Ugandan border. It's very much a village school, in a rural location, tucked under the steep hills that are a feature of the landscape in that location.

The local tribe is the Kakwa which is the predominant tribe of that region.The school is providing vital education to 340 pupils in Grades 1 - 7, ages 7-13.

THE SITUATION

Longamere currently only has three proper classrooms for the 340 pupils they teach. This results in pupils being taught in the original thatched classrooms which have now walls or windows and no proper seating for the pupils. In rainy weather these are impossible to use and children are sent home from school.

SUCCESS

We are delighted that after the Savoy Ball we were able to start building work in November. We have now finished this brand new block of three classrooms as of January 2012. We have been really pleased by the support given to us by the local community, they provided us with all the local materials needed including river and pit sand, supplying local bricks.

From old...

To new...