Sudan Recovery Fund supports over 150 former street children

September 27, 2010 (JUBA) — The litany of African woes is rather too familiar, often captured in world media with scenes of impoverished children living in dusty and unhygienic places, a depiction of the appalling humanitarian conditions in the Dark Continent.

In South Sudan, a region affected by over two decades of the country’s bloody civil war, thousands of children who lost their parents as a result of the war were denied access to education, parental guidance, eventually becoming street children.

However, two years after the 2005 signing of Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), Confident Children out of Conflict (CCC), an indigenous non-profit making organization took up the initiative rehabilitate these street children.

“The plight of these children inspired me to begin this charity cause. In the beginning we thought of dealing with girls who are often not easily identified as compared to the boys,” Cathy Groenendijk , CCC’s Director said.

Initially, Groenendijk added, her organization, which was officially registered in March 2008, focused on former child soldiers and those being confined in prisons within Juba, the Southern Sudan capital.

“Through interaction with people in prison, many were able to buy our ideas and that is what engineered our progress towards addressing the plight of these children,” she narrates.

Started with 25 boys and girls, albeit the latter kept increasing in number, the organization now boasts of about 150 children, all enrolled in schools to attain basic education.

“I can tell you the start wasn’t easy. We experienced a lot of criticisms from not only people who never liked our idea, but the community as well. However, with support from private individuals and stakeholders, we were able to get things going,” she says.

Later on, the organization reportedly secured funds from United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) to organize a football tournament that proved to be a success. She said, “Our involvement with UNICEF was tremendous. The tournament made people know what we were actually doing and many liked the idea. To us it was a breakthrough in our struggle”.

Early this year, CCC received a massive uplift from Sudan Recovery Fund-Southern Sudan (SRF-SS), an initiative that aims to accelerate recovery in the south through high-impact and quick disbursed projects. Last year, SRF-SS’s Steering Committee endorsed a small grant program to provide funding to national non-governmental and community-based organizations in the second phase of the project.

The grants, currently being coordinated through BRAC, a Bangladesh award-wining micro-finance entity, is earmarked to increase the capacity of national NGOs and CBOs to enable them to fully participate in the development and reconstruction of South Sudan.

According to BRAC’s small grants Program Manager, Mayom Biar, the micro-finance organization, “Co-ordinates, implements, monitors and evaluates as well as audits funds disbursed to these organizations.”

To-date, a total of SDG 920.625 has already been disbursed to over 70 national NGOs and CBOs spread across all the 10 states of Southern Sudan, from April to June this year. Out of the 70, noted Mayom, 56 organizations are focusing on agriculture, 16 on education, with 14 on water and sanitation needs.

“We really appreciate the support given by Sudan Recovery Fund-Southern Sudan. It was a big boost in our struggle to realize the mission of this charity organization,” Groenendijk, whose organization secured SDG 65,000 (about $25,000), told Sudan Tribune in an interview.

However, not all is rosy within the organization as it’s faced with enormous challenges, some of which are inevitable.

“This organization is still faced with several challenges. Lack of awareness among community members, the violent nature of some of the children towards each other at the center, human resources and financial constraints are just some of the few setbacks,” she says.

Meanwhile, plans are already underway by CCC to set up income generating activities that will support the center, while construction of its permanent premises are already in the offing, courtesy of land donated by the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS).

(ST).