Project Sudan
Gymnasium Steglitz supports the organisation „ Initiative Sudan“
Goal of „Initiative Sudan“ is to provide the assistance for self-help in Sudan. It took care of building schools in a country which is plagued by poverty and war. The schools are supposed to give the students a chance in life, thereby creating a young and educated Sudan. This will teach them, not to be afraid of a civil war and starvation and accept western aid organisations.
Why „ Initiative Sudan“?
We decided to make a contribution to „ Initiative Sudan“ – not just because they received the donations seal of the German Institute for social issues – but also because a personal contact with the founder of the Fund consists. Father Stephen Senge brought the organization to life in 1997 and flies to Sudan regularly. He is a monk at the monastery Himmerod which had been a hotel for many religious field trips. This is how the contact was achieved. In February 2007, Father Stephen has personally presented the project at the school.
The donation project
To give young Sudanese access to education, many costs need to be taken care of: school buildings need to be built and furnished, teachers, school uniforms, books, pens and paper need to be paid. To manage these costs, “ Initiative Sudan” depends on donations.
Donations are collected three times a year. The money collected is immediately transferred to the account of “ Initiative Sudan”. The first donations of the Gymnasium Steglitz were used for building a library for the Secondary School “ Gidel “ in the Nuba Mountains.
The “Briefprojekt“
The “Briefprojekt“ is a partnership with an elementary shool in Sudan, which we will be writing letters with consistently. The letters are meant for all students and will be sent every three to four months.
It takes a long time until the letters reach the school, because Sudan doesn´t have a proper post office. We send our letters to Nairobi, which is in Kenia, a country next to Sudan. Sisters of the parrish of El Obeid receive them. Now, the letters will be collected by a person of the school or a Sister of the parrish El Obeid will be bringing them to the school. This will take weeks, because one has to drive very far and the conditions of the streets are unsuitable.
During the Rainy Season, which is from May to Novembre, transportation becomes nearly impossible due to overflowing of the streets. The letters will reach our partnerschool eventually and the children will read them eagerly. Unfortunately, the Sudanese think differently about written communication, than we do. Oral communication takes a bigger part in their lifes and that´s why they rarely write back. Nevertheless, our reference person Sharon promised us, to remind the children often, so that we will get some answers. But don´t be upset, if the letters are not as long as expected.
Finally, the answers from Sudan came!
After waiting for a long time, we finally became answers in Decembre. We were excited, that so many letters were written back to our school.