AWEIL, South Sudan — Girls and boys, dressed in colorful scarves, tattered shirts and flip-flops, ran to line up at the start of the school day.
The children, hundreds of them gathered in makeshift classrooms, had arrived at this aid camp in recent months after fleeing the war in Sudan. But as they began to gain a sense of normality in their upbringing, many were overwhelmed by memories of the conflict, which left loved ones dead and their homes destroyed.
Mujahid Yaqub, 23, fled Sudan and now teaches English at the school at the Wedwil refugee center in Aweil, South Sudan. He said many of the children often cried over memories of their terrifying escape.
“We want to let you know that there is hope,” he said, but “it is painful.”
Sudan’s universities, primary and secondary schools remain closed six months after the outbreak of war. With an estimated 19 million children out of school, Sudan is on the verge of becoming “the world’s worst education crisis,” the United Nations Children’s Fund warned last month.
Universities and government educational offices have been destroyed or used as defense positions, and at least 171 schools have been converted into shelters for displaced people, says a spokesperson for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
“If this war continues, the damage to the education system will be irreparable,” said Munzoul Assal, who until April was a professor of social anthropology at the University of Khartoum.
The war between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has killed up to 9,000 people and injured thousands more, according to the United Nations. More than 7 million have been displaced.
“I had ambitions for myself, my family and my country,” said Braa Nureyn, 21, a dental student in Sudan who fled with her family to the camp in Aweil and now shared a tent with eight family members. “The idea of being a refugee is impossible. “I avoid thinking about it because there is no solution.”
Aid groups and UN agencies say they are stepping up efforts to ensure access to education. Some Sudanese students have been able to enter primary and secondary schools in Egypt and South Sudan. Rwanda has welcomed 200 Sudanese medical students. Education Can’t Wait, a UN fund, has announced a $5 million grant to support school-aged children.
“We are teaching children to be strong mentally and physically, so that they can return and be the new generation that rebuilds Sudan,” Yaqub said.
By: ABDI LATIF DAHIR
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6965096, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-11-01 22:20:07
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