The New Sudan Education Initiative (NESEI) believes that there is tremendous un-tapped power in diaspora groups around the world to effect change in their countries of origin. The southern Sudanese diaspora is organizing itself, with the help and support of its international friends and neighbors, to create innovative, market-based development projects that are designed specifically to transition southern Sudan from war to peace. NESEI was inspired by the experience of Sudanese diaspora members who began returning home to utter destruction after 17 years or more of exile - 4.5 million people were killed and 8 million refugees created in southern Sudan during the decades-long civil war that broke out in 1956.

NESEI strongly believes that education development and economic development, working side by side in a dynamic, social entrepreneurial context, will be the most successful approach to southern Sudan's very specific post-conflict needs. NESEI's first project will create a network of ‘accelerated learning' secondary schools that are designed specifically to incubate the new leaders, the new businesses, and the new social sector institutions that are central to the future of post-conflict southern Sudan.

Abraham Awolich and Robert Lair co-direct NESEI. Abraham is southern Sudanese and was a refugee in East Africa for 14 years. He recently graduated from the University of Vermont, where he won numerous academic awards. Robert Lair has traveled widely in Uganda and Sudan and has worked extensively in the Sudanese refugee camps in Northern Uganda. He is Adjunct Professor at St. Michael's College in Burlington, Vermont.

My Sister's Keeper (MSK) assists, protects and advocates for formerly enslaved women and children of southern Sudan who live in Gogrial County.  MSK aspires to be a friend to these women and their children by listening to their stories, learning about their needs, and supporting their aspirations for economic, educational and physical vitality.

The initial impetus for My Sister's Keeper came in July 2001, when pastor and medical doctor Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond traveled to southern Sudan as part of a contingent of Boston-based African American ministers. They participated in the liberation of more than 6,700 slaves, bringing national media attention to the issue of slavery in Sudan. In 2002, Rev. White-Hammond returned to Sudan and spent several days talking with women in villages in Gogrial County. Through these discussions, the former slave women identified grinding mills and education for girls as their top priorities. The courage, resilience and forward thinking of the Sudanese women during the midst of a raging war spurred the group to work hard and support the women of Sudan.

Rev. White-Hammond founded My Sister's Keeper in 2002 in Boston with Elizabeth Walker, Cynthia Bell, and Patricia Brandes (they had all been in Sudan together). In the years that followed, MSK provided grinding mills to villages in southern Sudan, supported a school for girls in the town of Akon, trained health care workers, and provided medical supplies to Sudanese clinics. They have also brought the stories of the women of Sudan to the U.S. and advocated for peace on their behalf.

MSK supports all victims of genocide in Darfur. MSK's co-founder, Dr. Gloria Rev. White-Hammond has served as the Chairwoman of Save Darfur Coalition's "A Million Voices for Darfur" campaign and has met with President Bush as part of My Sister's Keeper's efforts to influence U.S. policy on Sudan.

In 2005, Franco Majok returned to his village of Wunlang, a remote village in Northern Bhar al-Ghazal. It was his first time home since fleeing the civil war in 1983. He found that some children, many malnourished and impoverished, walk two hours to attend the one and only school in the village. The children sit outside under trees on long branches because they don't have a school building. They lack basic necessities such as school supplies and desks. During the rainy season the school is closed because road access is difficult.  During the dry season the school is closed because it is too hot outside.

When Franco returned to the United States, he helped launch Village Help for South Sudan, Inc. The organization is currently working on building an elementary school for boys and girls in Wunlang. The school will consist of eight classrooms and two offices. The school will also offer adult literacy classes.

The vision for the Wunlang School extends beyond mere construction of a building, and Franco’s commitment to Wunlang will continue after the building is occupied. The new facility will become a vibrant center of activity for students and teachers throughout the year. Classes will continue through the rainy season. Supplies and equipment will be available to facilitate learning. Food and clean drinking water will be provided to the students. There will be a student-run farm with vegetable gardens and cattle for milk and food. The children will wear uniforms and shoes to school. Teachers will be paid, and they will have an opportunity to pursue their own continuing education. Local staff will be supplemented by a rotation of volunteer teachers from America.

Nadus Films is a non-profit documentary film company, born out of a desire to serve those in the greatest of need. In the summer of 2007, Nadus traveled to Sudan to begin filming a feature length documentary project, “The New Sudan.” The goal for the film is to raise social awareness and inspire action in fulfilling the needs documented. These needs, as expressed to the filmmakers by the Sudanese, are clean water, education, health services and health education, and church growth.

Nadus is also working on “Dear Sudan,” a short film compiled of interviews with Sudanese who have been displaced to the United States and with Americans who have a heart for Sudan. Nadus will show this film in villages as the team travels through Sudan with the hope of bringing encouragement to the people of this war torn nation. Nadus believes that the first step to any sort of rebuilding is encouragement.

Nadus believes that love demands justice, and the team’s purpose is to use their gifts and resources to document the story of the Sudanese and share it with the world. Treading gently as servants, Nadus seeks to touch the lives and hearts of the war-torn nation of Sudan, by bringing them hope for a peaceful future.

The St. Josephine Bakhita Medical Clinic was established by Garang Amet and Angelo Kiir, through the assistance and the guidance of the young Christian community. Garang and Angelo are two of the so-called Sudanese “Lost Boys” who have made it their goal to improve the lives of southern Sudanese.  

The St. Josephine Bakhita Clinic was formed with the following goals: to help reduce the incidence of disease in the area (especially malaria and tuberculosis); to provide programs that encourage youth participation in health care issues; to educate youth on HIV/AIDS prevention and to provide counseling; and to make resources and treatment available to those in war torn regions. The St. Josephine Bakhita Clinic also hopes to help southern Sudanese youth acquire the knowledge and responsibility to develop their own gifts and talents by assisting youth in finding, sharing, and utilizing resources for their common goals.

For more information about St. Josephine Bakhita Medical Clinic, please contact founder Garang Amet and Angelo Ngong Kiir at modhok24@yahoo.com.

In May of 2006, a group of Lost Boys in the Chicago area teamed up with American partners to form Lost Boys Rebuilding Southern Sudan. The purpose of the organization is to assist in rebuilding the lives of war-affected populations in southern Sudan, especially the youth of Bahr al-Ghazal. Their initial goal is to build a secondary school that will be open to both young men and women. They will provide all necessary educational materials and other supplies to get the school up and running until the facility becomes self-sustaining. Fundraising efforts are already taking place here in the United States to ensure that our goal becomes a reality. The board of directors is led by a group of Lost Boys who were resettled in the United States from Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. These young men are the driving force behind the organization’s strategy and eventual success. Currently, all board members are volunteers and the organization is registered as a nonprofit in the state of Illinois.

Their first step is to travel to southern Sudan to investigate potential sites for the first school in the Bahr al-Ghazal region. They will work with the government and other organizations to develop solid plans and select a location so that funds are best used to further the mission of our organization.

For Lost Boys Rebuilding Southern Sudan, education is the key to the future for the people of southern Sudan.