Mayen Pajok Kindergarten School Project

Project proposal for funding

Executive summary

The proposed Mayen Pajok Kindergarten School is a project of Christians United for Evangelism, Education and Development (CUEED), a faith based organization founded by Rev. James Garang Akoon of Episcopal Church of Sudan. The project will equip pre primary school in Mayen Pajok for children aged between 3-6 years who will be undertaking their formal education as a preparation to enter primary school. This will be a pilot project.

In the next six months the project will concentrate in it’s activities on constructing administration block, 5-blocks of classrooms, a dining hall, 2-staff houses and 4-toilets. The project is targeting to provide education to over 2000 children in Mayen Pajok. An estimated 200 pre primary school children will be admitted to the school every year. Children benefiting from the school will be enrolled in various primary schools in the county.

The Mayen Pajok Kindergarten School will be an investment in the future of the education of children in Mayen Pajok in Warrap State. It will be an investment in breaking the vicious circle of ignorance, disease and poverty. It will also be an investment in strengthening the family, the society and in bringing peace and prosperity in the State and indeed in the country as a whole. It will help CUEED to grow and mould pre primary school children into respectful, God fearing, hard working and obedient citizens. The project will be continually monitored, evaluated and controlled by CUEED in consultation with the donors and project beneficiaries.

It’s projected that for the success of the proposed project CUEED will be required to procure basic construction materials such as cement, timber, iron sheet, nails, sand, gravel etc and engage the expertise of contractors and other workers. All these are estimated to cost US$104,500

Introduction

CUEED is a faith based organization working with local communities and churches in Sudan. CUEED members have a common call/mission to go wherever they are needed. They remain open to the spirit in themselves and in other cultures and people. They live in communities where They share their support as well as challenges. Provision of education is one way of fulfilling their mission.

Since it’s establishment, CUEED has continued to collaborate with a number of local organizations to implement projects in the fields of capacity building, evangelism, and relief services.

While many organizations in Warrap have shunned the development of pre primary school children, CUEED has placed the development of children at the center of it’s programmes. It is because she appreciates the difficulties that children are going through and eager to help.

The proposed Kindergarten project will cater for pre primary school children from both poor and well to do families. It will offer ordinary curriculum which is approved by the ministry of education and will instill Christian values and ethics among children. The school will depend on donor funds to finance it’s operation. This will help the school to sustain itself by paying staff, replacement of equipment and meeting other needs.

The school values ensure elimination of all forms of discrimination based on gender, social-economic status, race or religion.

The school will make education relevant to the environment and life situation and will produce children who will respond to the actual needs and interest of the community. Relevance in education will enhance equality of gender as well as quality of education itself. The school will seek to enhance basic education among all the children as a priority. Basic education is the minimum education every child must acquire which will include communication skills, writing and numerals.

Problem statement

Warrap State is one of the states in Southern Sudan which bore the brunt of the civil wars in Sudan in Sudan due to it’s closeness to the northern Sudan. Many people were killed, maimed and disabled, institutions were destroyed and /or burnt down, families were scattered across the world, and churches were destroyed and / or burnt down until 2005 when the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) was signed which gave Southern Sudan semi autonomy.

Southern Sudan is one of the poorest countries in region having suffered from the longest decades of civil wars in Africa leading to the death of 2.4 million people, destruction of her social and economic infrastructures.

Many Southern Sudanese people live below the international poverty line (earning less than $1 per day). Despite the country’s oil resources, southern Sudan’s poverty rate is high, about 30%, or 40% for people living in relative poverty and 85% in extreme poverty.

Since 2005 nothing much has been recovered in education sector as the government is busy with other many important issues which must also be realized. These include the just concluded elections in Sudan, holding the forthcoming Referendum, food security, road construction, housing, resettlement of returnees, health care among many other issues.

This has left the challenge of educating children to the communities who are themselves not prepared to handle the education of their children as majority of these parents failed to attend school because they were fighting in the bush for their country’s liberation. They do not have knowledge to teach their children at home and if these children will continue like this for long they too may end up not seeing the value of education as majority are introduced to cattle keeping at a very tender age.

Even if these parents would want their children to start schooling early there is the other most difficult challenge facing the entire population in the Warrap State. Lack of Kindergarten schools and schools in general is another issue that unless organizations such as CUEED intervene, it will take the community many years of toiling to have them constructed. This has forced a large number of girls to drop out of school early due to long distances and daily trekking which exposes them to several sex abuses and rape.

Justification

The need for education among the children in Warrap State is urgent and needs immediate intervention. Majority of children are opting for early school drop out at a very tender age because there are no schools and those available are too far from some communities forcing children to walk between 3-4 hours each day. This can be very discouraging to children who are just beginning to learn.

The government of Southern Sudan has so many things to handle and being semi autonomous under the government of Sudan it requires the support of the international community to enable her support her programmes such as education through organizations, churches and or even ministries.

The civil wars destroyed all the social and economic infrastructures including schools forcing the communities in Southern Sudan to reconstruct their livelihoods again. This is not an easy exercise. It requires support, partnerships and commitments.

The target area of this project, Warrap State was the most affected region throughout Southern Sudan because of bordering the north. Many casualties and destruction were caused here. It’s upon this background that CUEED is appealing to you for support to enable us construct the lives of the future leaders (children) of this nation.

There is a thin line between poverty, literacy and illness and so economically disadvantaged families are more likely to fall ill, causing high morbidity and mortality rates in their communities. Also, a mother’s level of education and economic power affects the health status of her family and, in particular, her own health and that of her children under five years old. Better educational achievement, increased chances of employment and earning power have a positive influence on the health knowledge, attitude and behavior of mothers who are not only care-givers but who are increasingly becoming providers of the basic needs of their children.

Goal:

The main goal of this project is to access quality education to pre primary school children aged between 3-6 years throughout Mayen Pajok.

Objectives

• To construct a kindergarten school in Warrap State, Southern Sudan in six Months.
• To provide early life education for under-six as a means of economic empowerment of mothers and sustainable poverty reduction.
• To Monitor and evaluate the construction work of Mayen Pajok Kindergarten School for six months.
  

Implementation plan

Objective 1: To construct a kindergarten school in Warrap State, Southern Sudan in six Months:

CUEED Director will organize an inception meeting, invite churches, the local community, representatives from the ministry of education, NGOs working in education sector and interested stakeholders to explain the objective, methods of implementation, and monitoring and evaluation  plans of the proposed project. A committee to oversee the school construction work will be formed under the supervision of CUEED Chief Executive officer.

The committee will hire constructors and other workers who will be involved in the actual construction work, procure construction/building materials in Juba and Mayen Pajok to boost local business for the available materials. This will be done by CUEED Procurement and logistic official and all the materials purchased will be taken to construction site for the work to begin. Among the materials to be procured includes: cement, timber, nails, iron sheets, Y10, Sand, gravel, bricks, metal doors, metal windows and bricks. A prayer ceremony will be conducted by the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, Wau diocese to ask God for His guidance and protection during the construction work at the beginning of the launch and Rev. Peter Garang Akuei will lead the gathering in prayers. Government officials, NGOs representatives and community leaders together with members of the public will be invited to the launch of the construction work. The State Minister of Education and a representative from the funding organization will lay the foundation stone.

Objectives:2 the aim of the project is to provide early life education for under-six as a means of economic empowerment of mothers and sustainable poverty amelioration.

The community members will be fully involved at all levels (planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation) of early life education programmes for their communities. However, when funds are made available by donors, communities (the beneficiaries of such funds) will be made aware and officials will fulfill requirements to access such funds for implementation of the proposed project. In order to continue accessing the funds, action plans will be designed and submitted to the donor, state government and communities.

Objective 3: To Monitor and evaluate the construction work of Warrap State Kindergarten School for six months.

The project will be monitored and evaluated at a constant of two months to assure whether or not the project goes as planned. The exercise of monitoring and evaluation will be done by CUEED Education committee with a view to detect any weaknesses during implementation. Measures will be taken to correct any weaknesses detected to enable the project objectives realized.

The evaluation will also help to improve the project performance by recommending for changes in inputs, processes, administration, and modification of objectives and other important aspects of the project which might affect the impact of the project.

Beneficiaries

This project aims at assisting children aged 3-6 years to acquire formal education. It aims at responding to the increased needs and numerous problems facing children in Warrap State. The education of children has tragically been ignored in the target communities. Children are used to look after cattle and to do other domestic work. They are not prepared to join primary schools hence leading to poor performance in the later years. The proposed project targets to prepare 200 children yearly to join various primary schools in Mayen Pajok in Gogrial West County, Warrap State in Southern Sudan.

Expected results

• One Kindergarten School constructed and is operational in Mayen Pajok in Gogrial West County, Warrap State, Southern Sudan.
• 2000 Children from Mayen Pajok in Gogrial West County, Warrap State have access to Kindergarten school education in ten years
• 30% of girls school drop out in Mayen Pajok in Gogrial West County, Warrap State reduced.
• 35% of girls engaged in early marriages in Mayen Pajok in Gogrial West County, Warrap State are reduced.
• Formation school committee to oversee the management of the school
• Monitoring and Evaluation reports prepared and submitted to the funding organization

• Majority of mothers will not prefer keeping children older than three years at home.
• Access to early childhood education will give mothers opportunity to undergo vocational training and take up new/additional jobs.
• 80% of the participating families will double their income
  

Conclusion: The project of early childhood education has the potential for sustainable poverty reduction through economic empowerment to women in Mayen Pajok in Gogrial West County, Warrap State as communities and therefore deserves your support and partnership.  These communities are rebuilding their livelihoods which were damaged by the civil war and your contribution can greatly contribute towards their future development and sustainability.