From Cleaning The Office to Training to Become a Midwife

My name is Marry Adam Koko. I am a Nuba coming from the Haiban tribe existed in eastern part of south Kordofan state. I’m number seven in my family of 4 girls and 5 boys.  Unfortunately although I’m the only one in the family who has a Sudanese certificate, I was not able to enter University. It was necessary for me to go out and earn money to help my father. 

We settled in Khartoum Al-fitemab village and I did a lot of casual work to earn money and help my family before joining Together for Sudan organization as a part-time cleaner in July 2012. 

My ambition has always been to complete my studies to find a better job or to acquire skills to enable me to work professionally.

I learnt about the midwifery scholarship during my work for TfS. I decided to apply because the training would develop me socially and I know that in my area there is an urgent need for trained women. There is only one midwife in our area and she is always busy.

Some of our midwives in training with Lillian, Mary is in the middle of the back row, standing next to Neimat, our in country coordinator.

“I hope sincerely, if I succeed in completing this course, to work honestly helping my people in the village where I reside and if the situations permit I would like to go back home at Nuba Mountains to disseminate the knowledge and deliver health messages and to educate my people about the family health and care.”
Thank you Together for Sudan. Without your support I would never had this opportunity.

The 2 year training scheme is supported by the government but Mary could not have joined as she is poor and needs uniform, special shoes, a special scarf, a bed sheet and some hostel accommodation together with help with some transport costs and food. Our supporters are funding Marry and another 9 women in this way. Thank you for your generosity.

Peter Hullah
Director

Martina's Story

Martina will not be defeated

At Juba University, Martina, a young student, arrives early at the side door of the lecture theatre. Usually it’s standing room only and she wants to get a seat in her undergraduate class.

Born in Eastern Equatoria, with no father living, Martina was displaced by war as a young child, ending up in the barren settlements in the wasteland outside Khartoum.

She struggled to gain entry into a secondary school where she saw a notice on the board advertising support offered by Together for Sudan without any religious discrimination for displaced women. 

Martina was determined and after a rigorous interview, she emerged as one of our students. 

Her university moved back to Juba as South Sudan became independent in 2011 and Martina moved again. She now lives with her grandmother in a basic room outside the city and despite many interruptions she is continuing to study public administration.

Recently we met Martina with her hand on that Juba side door which will lead her to a brighter future. Nothing will defeat her.

Women's Education Partnership, as we are now called, has supported 261 other girls over the last 15 years at universities and vocational colleges,  all disadvantaged women, many from the Nuba Mountains.   

Martina was just one of the many remarkable people Alan Goulty, Lillian Craig Harris, Penny and I met on our April visit to Khartoum and Juba. We have seen first-hand some of our literacy, eye care and HIV/Aids projects in operation and listened to the women so that in our planning for projects we can act on what they tell us to do.  We have also had very joyful meetings with our scholars studying in Khartoum and Juba . Often having to struggle, they are working really hard to study so that they can find jobs and play a full part in the peaceful and healthy development of Sudan and South Sudan.

Watch this space for more Women’s Education Partnership (Together for Sudan) Good News Stories.

Thank you for your support and encouragement. There is much more we can do with your help.

Peter Hullah

Director  

Moving Forwards

Thank you, trustees of Together for Sudan for appointing me as your new Director. It is a great privilege to be asked to continue the remarkable work which Lillian Craig Harris and Alan Goulty have done in developing life changing projects for women in Sudan and South Sudan.

During the next two months I will be working closely with Lilian and Alan to prepare for a visit to our staff in both countries. In April we will travel  together to introduce me as the new director to our project leaders.

In the future, I see the role of Together for Sudan to be a partnership between generous donors, workers who are making things happen locally and the people who need help most. Developing this partnership in education will give us a renewed sense of purpose, building on the firm foundations of the past and responding positively to the challenges of the future.

This partnership will become even stronger as we listen carefully to the women who need us, try to remove the barriers to progress and plan quickly and act generously. Our first task will be to ensure that the projects which are running well are properly funded and well supported  in difficult times.

Through the generosity of our donors, there is so much going on which is life changing and my hope is that we continue to stay close to the women who are in need of educational support.

On our return from our visit to Sudan and South Sudan , Lillian and I will together write a news letter to introduce you to our friends in Africa and the hopes that we and they have for the future. We want to share more stories with you where Together has made a difference.

I have been a teacher and head teacher in challenging schools where pupils have needed education most and without education, talent would have been wasted.  I have seen first hand how education opens doors and makes a difference. As your new Director of Together for Sudan it is my dream that every education project and every Together for Sudan scholar should be Hopeful and I want Together for Sudan and our Partnership to be Hopeful in all that we do.

Thank you for your support and I look forward in Hope as working Together we grow stronger.

A New Director Appointed

Peter Hullah new TfS Director

The Trustees of Together for Sudan have appointed Peter Hullah, former Principal of Northampton Academy and senior educational advisor, to be their new Director, in succession to Lillian Craig Harris, who is stepping down for health reasons.  

Together for Sudan was founded in 1996 by Lillian Craig Harris in response to what Sudanese women told her about their need for education and health care services. Under her leadership Together for Sudan has supported over 250 Sudanese women to study at Sudanese and South Sudanese universities. It has expanded to undertake a range of other educational and health projects to benefit Sudanese women and children.  The Trustees are grateful to Lillian for all she has accomplished and she remains the Chair of Trustees.  Lillian says ‘I am delighted that Peter has been appointed. His energy, skills and experience will enable us to develop and expand our pioneering work.’

Peter’s first teaching post over 30 years ago was at a pioneering girl’s school in Uganda and since then he has been Chaplain of the King’s School, Canterbury and Head of Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester. He has also visited schools in Africa to learn at first hand what it is which makes a truly ‘Hopeful School’ for its students and for the community it serves. Before moving to Northampton Academy, The Rt Rev Peter Hullah was Bishop of Ramsbury in the Diocese of Salisbury.  He chaired the Salisbury Diocesan Link with the Episcopal Church of Sudan. 

Peter says, ‘It is a great privilege to be asked to work with such a committed organization, striving to make a difference for women in Sudan and South Sudan who find difficulty accessing education. I look forward to developing Together for Sudan’s existing networks which seek to offer improved educational opportunities for women in Africa where there is the most acute need.’ He will take up his post on 1st February 2013.  Peter has told the Trustees that he is encouraged by what the charity has already achieved and looks forward to the challenge of mobilising further support to enable it to expand its work.

Together for Sudan focuses its work on developing educational opportunities for women in the recently reconfigured countries of Sudan and South Sudan.  Alongside its educational scholarships for women, it supports literacy classes, self-help schools, HIV/Aids and eye care projects, working with local partners in one of the most challenging areas of the world. Our work is inclusive, alongside people of all religions who are committed to the education of women. 

More Good News from Khartoum

The oft-postponed operations day finally took place at the Bashir hospital in the Mayo suburb of Khartoum in mid-November.  355 patients were seen of whom 300 received medicines, mostly eye-drops and vitamins.  48 operations were recommended and carried out, of which 29 were for cataracts and the remainder miscellaneous surgeries.  The follow-up day to review the patients who underwent the operations will be on 13 December.

Here are some photos of some of the patients.

Deng Yoor 14 month has Ophthalmoglegia and complete Ptosis 

Rogia Fateh Alrahman 75 year old she has Glaucoma in both eyes 

Mary Maytout 23 years old from South Sudan she has cornia and Ptosis 

Abeker Dafallah Abutemon 39 years old has Glaucouma  

Waiting their turn for an operation all of them for Cataracts 

Encouraging News

Encouraging report today from our colleagues in Khartoum that our women’s literacy classes are now working well after some initial problems over venues and class timings.  Now we have 19 classes working in the suburbs of Khartoum and Omdurman, for women who have been displaced, mostly from the Nuba Mountains and western Sudan (Darfur).  Our monitoring in November showed an average attendance of 22 at the classes, which are held three times a week.  The photo shows our largest class at Wad al Bashir, a suburb of Omdurman.  We hope that at the end of their course in March 2014, the women will be able to tackle the government’s basic literacy exam.

Why I Support.......

A quote from a generous sponsor of one of our university scholars at Ahfad University:

Much can be done - given the chance

“Over twenty five years ago I went to Sudan as a very young and very inexperienced teacher to work in a girls’ secondary school. I was humbled both by the immense generosity and kindness of the girls I had the blessing to meet there and their determination, often despite incredible personal hardship, to continue their education, become qualified and go on to serve their community. They knew instinctively that education was liberating and empowering and treasured every moment they had at school. Sadly, because of their family circumstances, so few of them were able to go to university.

Education empowers and that is why I was so happy to help Together for Sudan in its essential work in building educational programs and in particular, by helping a young woman from the Nuba Mountains to go to university. It is personally thrilling to be able to follow her progress and feel that in a small way I have helped repay my debt to the people of Sudan.”

Learn more about our University Scholarship Project