Who cares about kids?

ByMayar Mayer M Kout

February 21, 2009 — It was a pleasure to be back home to Sudan the country we all loved. Our airplane landed in a little tiny Juba’s Airport in two months ago. Shortly in my arrival from the baggage claim area. I met with relatives, friends and schoolmates. I saw a bit changed in state of Central Equartoria the town has expanded southward as well as northward. There are many new hotels, Restaurants and concrete houses built. Juba is a crowded capital city with vehicles, over populated.

However, there is something truly offended me and I would like to share with public. It is a” live or die” issue, as I am writing this journal I truly convinced that a majority of kids in southern Sudan, in ranging age of (seven – twelve) are not in schools. In Juba alone, kids are to be found at markets and restaurants during school hours because they there looking for leftover food from eaters for their survival. It isn’t a Jubain kids alone but it’s likely to be in ten states.

Surprisingly, it seems nobody cares? Those of Goss nor state governors. But our traditional ways of thinking as southerners it’s still imminent to throw in our own failure to other people and blamed on them. We usually used to hold our brothers in northern Sudan responsibility for all bad, chaos and corruptions. However it was logical to argue so some years back because the northerners were viewed to be our oppressors and local colonials.

But now there is a dramatic changed after Sudan’s peace of 2005. The south had win an autonomy self-govern in other word the southerners are running a show in their region, and eventually, our ministers and governors exposed a clear weakness and irresponsible behaviors to the world. As today the ministry of Education Science and Technology, they have not able to provide textbooks, breakfast meal and forget about qualified teachers. They are acting as likely nobody cares? You are kids on your own problem.

Despite-the facts, many of our ministers and governors their kids are receiving a good education in foreign countries. Meanwhile those kids on Juba’s street and other states of south Sudan are an orphan children their parents believed to be killed or heavily wounded during the revolutionary war south-north. Our god’s only witness.

In closing, what are the solutions? I strongly advise our minister as I am willing to share some mechanism ways of how we all can solve this problem. One of a most approach in attempt to address this problem. Even-though it will not be a permanent solution but it’s seem to be available scenario at this moment. First of all, the Education’s minister required to have a plan and also how to prioritize his agenda accordingly. Beside his ministry needs a proper coordination work effort with state minister to put a supervision team of educators to assess what going on in each state. And the team should give a report quarterly or in 6 month to a Goss’s minister. Moreover our minister must have a written plan, concerning school feeding program, having a proposal will required minister to present his plan exclusively to NGOs organs and he will be in position to ask for money and commodities. As far as I know the “World Food Program” has a feeding program they can provide some meals for many schools per day. That’s only solution we have on table Comrade and long live to southern Sudan …. New Sudan Oyee

Author’s Computer Engineer based in Juba. He can be reached through email: [email protected] or [email protected]