This money will go so far in helping us achieve our goal of building a school/orphanage for the children of Bor.

THANK YOU!!!!!

Thanks to the wonderful businesses and individuals who donated items and services for our Bogan Bingo night.

Some of our supporters have expressed interest in making a contribution to the cost of feed & so we have made provision in our online shop to do just that! A 50kg sack of grain costs the equivalent of $35.00 AU & will provide enough porridge for around 200 children per day. We recognise that $35.00 may be more than some people are able to contribute, so we are set up for people to contribute $5.00, $10.00, $20.00 if they so wish. We will provide a running tally on our fb page, so everyone will know how many sacks we have purchased.

Abraham Maluk has made the necessary purchases. ie. cooking pots, utensils & some 50 kg sacks of highly nutritious grain to make porridge to feed up to 200 children per day. He is in the process of selecting 4 local ladies to cook, clean and provide some basic care for the children & 2 men to provide security.

Filling those empty tummies!

Abraham watching on as children enjoy their porridge.

Porridge being prepared for the children.

FINALLY!!! The photos we have been waiting on have come through from Bor, South Sudan-well some of them anyway! We did get multiples of the same one as Abraham worked really hard to get them to us via a poor network connection last night, making these photos all the more precious.

We are so proud of the work Abraham has done over the past couple of months, to establish the feeding station. There are very few supplies in Sth Sudan, which means that food and supplies often need to be brought in from neighbouring countries, such as Uganda. This makes them very costly.

It is only through the amazing commitment of Natalie Macpherson at Jambo Mtoto that we are able to establish the feeding station at this time, even before we begin to build the orphanage/school. Natalie’s commitment to Bocep is an ongoing one. The feeding station is in a temporary location right now but it will be relocated to the site of our building, where it will become a permanent structure when works begin.

We hope you enjoy seeing these few precious photos. The porridge-like food you see is made from the sacks of grain, available for purchase on our webpage. Thankyou to the wonderful people who have contributed to the cost of these sacks. The ladies looking after the children will, by the end of this month, begin receiving a salary for doing so. They will keep records and they will provide food, & some nurturing to the children.

We are feeling rather emotional at seeing these photos. We spent time with these children. We visited them in the village, where their situation was already desperate, before last year’s outbreak of civil war. We sent in 3 trucks to rescue them all, in a clandestine operation, from a dangerous situation during the worst on the unrest. We lost many of their friends/brothers/sisters as they hid in the shallows of The Nile. Hunger and illness snatched them away before they could become tomorrow’s successes, tomorrow’s champions, tomorrow’s leaders. We love these kids and we are determined to give them what they deserve. An education and a way to further themselves. Firstly though, they need life’s necessities-food, water, shelter and love.

We can never, ever thank our CEO Abraham Maluk enough, for his commitment to the children. He comes home late next month, having spent 5 months, assessing the children’s situation & establishing the feeding station. He left his home, his family & his job to go on the self funded journey. On his return, he will be available for public speaking and to give updates.

We have far to go but we are getting there!!

Thanks to a kind donation from Natalie Macpherson, who founded Jambo Mtoto (click here) to support disadvantaged children of Africa, we have the money to establish a temporary feeding station in Bortown to cater for the needs of the orphan children from our village. In January this year, after news that the village had been attacked by rebels, BOCEP was able to send in 3 trucks to transport 315 women and children to relative safety.  Our information is that, at present, the children are living in the town just outside a United Nations compound. At the height of the conflict, the compound was filled to bursting and unable to accommodate them within. They have however provided a small amount of food daily. At the moment the children are not receiving any schooling. Of course the most important thing for now is to address their basic needs first, food and shelter. Natalie has pledged to raise ongoing funds to build a more permanent feeding station once the orphanage school has begun construction.

Another project to be undertaken is the establishment of a sewing program. With the donation of $2000 for this purpose from a local supporter, we will employ skilled seamstresses who will train the ladies so they have some skills in using the sewing machines in producing items that the ladies can sell to support themselves and their families. The machines will be purchased from Uganda and are the old style treadle machines.

Following the recent unrest our plans to build and plans for the container have had to be placed on hold.  In the interim we plan to use the container for the storage and safe keeping of the grains, sacks of food and utensils for the feeding station.

www.google.com.au

]]> http://bocep.org.au/abrahams-visit-to-south-sudan/feed/ 0 http://bocep.org.au/diversity-award/ http://bocep.org.au/diversity-award/#comments Thu, 27 Jun 2013 02:02:09 +0000 http://bocep.org.au/wordpress/?p=404

We were surprised and honoured to be announced recipients of the Gippsland & Cardinia Regional Diversity Awards in recognition for the work we are doing to raise awareness and support for the orphan children of South Sudan.

Our Executive Director, Abraham Maluk, spoke beautifully about the plight of the orphan children, drawing parallels with his own childhood. He spoke of his dismay at finding the children destitute and impoverished on his return to South Sudan after 23 years in exile and reminded us all of the pressing need to give these children a future.

Before our team’s visit to South Sudan, our CEO Abraham Maluk spent 6 months on the ground in Bor working with the community to build relations and setting up supports for the children of Bor.  We so appreciate his dedication and commitment to strengthening the community, so that they can better support those children without parents.

The community of around 50 adults & more than 200 children already has a much more positive vibe.  When Maluk first visited more than 1 year ago the orphans were much despised.  The impoverished community couldn’t cater to their needs & so they were stealing livestock & grains to survive.  He has spent several months working with the community, purchasing blackboards & chalk with his own money, rewarding community members in small ways for acts of goodwill, securing a volunteer teacher for afternoon classes, providing oats to make a daily meal of porridge for the children.

When our team arrived in Bor village, with both Abraham’s, the men expressed surprise & delight that EVERY SINGLE CHILD wore at least an item of clothing!!  Some of you may recall our earlier pics, where many orphans wore nothing at all.  Even if only for the purpose of our visit, the ladies had gathered all the clothing in the village to ensure the children looked nice to sing & welcome us!!  No small thing!!

“These stories are told with clarity and integrity. They encompass the trials and tribulations of contemporary Africa – the famines and poverty, the impact of war, the pain of loss and displacement – and include accounts of epic treks to a new life, and years endured in refugee camps. Yet in its colour and scope, and in its vibrant presentation, it is infused with a sense of hope and celebration. It is a wonderful reflection of what is best about contemporary multicultural Australia”. ~Arnold Zable~

If you would like your own copy of this beautiful book or our first book ‘Donkeys Can’t Fly On Planes’, please go to our on line shop to purchase through PayPal or contact us via email at info@bocep.org.au

Budding authors: Sunday Garang, Nyetap Ruach and Nyawech Biliew at Liddiard Road Primary in Traralgon. Photo: Angela Wylie

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/sudanese-students-offer-an-insight-into-their-other-world-20130501-2it9p.html#ixzz2TMGdCuae

Sharon Sandy never expected her work at a Traralgon school would involve arranging medical examinations in Africa. Or that she would organise DNA tests so students at Liddiard Road Primary School could be reunited with South Sudanese relatives.

In recent years, Traralgon has absorbed many Sudanese families who have sent their children to local schools.

And Ms Sandy, the Liddiard Road PS student welfare officer, was deeply affected by the stories the children brought with them. ”I just thought they were too important not to get down,” she said.

Six years ago Ms Sandy began helping the students write about their experiences. Now they have been published in a book, Donkeys Can’t Fly on Planes, set for release in June. The children created illustrations with string, fabric and natural objects to accompany the stories.

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Despite initial reluctance, the 21 students eventually agreed to contribute their work. ”They realised people weren’t going to laugh at them, that people were really interested,” Ms Sandy said.

The stories were written in the simple and direct language of young children. They wrote about fetching water with a donkey from wells, escaping ”killers” and moving to Australia, while siblings and grandparents were forced to stay behind.

The stories have given voices to the children, who had seen too much violence, their families divided by war. Proceeds from the book sales will go towards building an orphanage and school in Bor in South Sudan.

Grade 6 student Sunday Garang wrote about her early years in a Kenyan refugee camp where hunger had even sapped her energy to cry. Her mother would soothe her to sleep by assuring her food would grow as she slept.

Nyawech Biliew, 11, hoped the stories would encourage readers to empathise with the experiences of refugees. ”So they can see we’re equal,” she said.

Staff at the school have gone to great lengths to support the Sudanese families. The school has contacted officials and health authorities in Africa several times to help students’ family members reach Australia.

But first the school had to encourage Sudanese parents to become involved in their children’s education. Now parents are regular visitors to the school. Even fathers who were, at first, resistant to educating their daughters have become active at the school and now have strong academic expectations for their children.

”We’ve really connected with our families and we make sure they know they’re part of the school,” Ms Sandy said.

b.preiss@theage.com.au

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/sudanese-students-offer-an-insight-into-their-other-world-20130501-2it9p.html#ixzz2TMGQKCNk