News

Workers making rows and rows of bricks.

HELPSudan’s Executive Director and co-founder, Jok Kuol Wel, has returned safely to Chicago after spending the last 9 months in Bor, Sudan. While in Sudan, Jok oversaw the completion of HELPSudan’s compound in Bor, which will serve as our headquarters in Sudan. The bulk of Jok’s time was spent working with the Thianwei community to recruit and train workers to produce Compressed Earth Blocks, which creates jobs, is more sustainable than purchasing concrete, and reduces costs by using locally available soil with only a small amount of purchased cement. Construction of permanent classrooms using the blocks produced will begin at Thianwei Primary later this year, after the rainy season passes.

Keep the work going! By contributing to the construction of permanent school buildings at Thianwei Primary, these bricks can be turned into classrooms. Brick classrooms provide an appropriate learning environment for Sudanese children and replace mud huts that are crowded and crumbling.

Jok called recently to update us on the progress being made at Thianwei and we’d like to share some exciting news with you. Jok has been working with the community elders to put together a plan for producing the bricks for a permanent school building. The result of those meetings has been that HELPSudan will provide the brick making machines, supplies, and a construction crew to erect the buildings with the bricks made by the community, while the elders gathered the community and agreed to pay the workers to produce the bricks.

This has had the effect of creating 90 new jobs immediately, 30 workers per day in a 3-day rotation (they need the rest, it’s really, really hot!). When we spoke to Jok, the community had already produced over 2,000 bricks! The bricks are strong, and in addition to creating jobs, the method used to produce them reduces the cost from $3.50 to purchase a cement brick, to $0.50 per brick produced locally.

We will need 10,000 bricks by the end of April in order to begin construction on a permanent structure at Thianwei before the rainy season hits, so there is a lot of hard work ahead. But, this is extremely encouraging news!

Ajang Bol recently travelled to Sudan to see family and friends. While there, he is staying and working with Jok at the HELPSudan Compound. We will update you on their progress in the near future, but we have a major personal announcement… Ajang is engaged! The wedding will take place in May before he returns to the US. Congratulations Ajang!

Shortly after Jok returned to Sudan after the HELPSudan Birthday Party for the Lost Boys in January, the first phase of the HELPSudan Compound in Bor was completed! It has a main room/office and three bedrooms than can sleep up to 4 each. In addition, the Compound has a security gate and two pit latrines.

The compound will serve as the center of HELPSudan operations in Sudan as well as a place to stay for volunteers on future trips (hint, hint)! This is a major step forward for HELPSudan and the Board of Directors would like to express our deep gratitude to everyone whose support has made this possible.

Workers test the brand new well dug for HELPSudan's school at Thianwei.

It has been an amazing year for HELPSudan!

Thanks to your generosity, we exceeded our fund raising goal by more than $20,000! With those funds we were able to hire one of our co-founders, Jok Kuol Wel, as our first Director in the Fall of 2008. Jok was invited to present our mission in several venues, including schools, church and community groups, a large corporate/business forum, and Global Activism Expo in Chicago.

We are harnessing our online presence by making connections around the world and developing grass roots fund raising partnerships with all kinds of different people, schools, churches and community groups. Here are some highlights:

• Jessie Lilly, a student at Parkland Composite High School in Edson, Alberta, Canada. There was an outdoor barbecue, and then a silent auction comprised of student art work. The event raised over $11,000 for HELPSudan.
• Lumia Huhdanpää, a friend who lives in Germany has mobilized an international knitters community, who have dedicated themselves to making custom pen/pencil cases to be used for a silent auction at our fund raiser and to be distributed to students at our schools in Sudan!
• In September we completed a fresh water well in Bor, Sudan. Now fresh, clean water is being provided for all of our students and thousands of villagers in the surronding area.
• We have begun to harness the interest of people all over the US by developing a HELPSudan Chapter kit which will help more volunteers in organizing their own awareness and fund raising efforts in other states.
• We have purchased a truck in Uganda to use for shipping supplies and equipment to our projects in Sudan.
• We purchased two manually operated pressed earth brick making machines, and villagers will be trained how to make bricks, then those bricks will be used to build a permanent school building.
• Jok, has spent the last 4 months in Sudan overseeing the project and shepherding the process of getting permits, purchasing supplies, preparing the building project, etc. And two Board members recently joined Jok in Sudan for 10 days in order to kick-off the training program on the brick machines. Nick Bailey is an IIT graduate in Mechanical Engineering, and Lauren Swihart is a professional photographer.

Looking ahead to 2009, things look even more promising!

• HELPSudan will again be featured on the Worldview talk show, on Chicago Public Radio. Host Jerome McDonnell will interview Jok and Board Member Lauren Swihart on January 22, 2009, at 12pm (noon.) You can listen to last years show in the Worldview archives by clicking here.
• Our third annual fundraiser, The Birthday Party for The Lost Boys, will be held on Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 6pm. You can purchase tickets to reserve your seat here.
• Watch this space for an update after the event on our goals for 2009!

Finally we want to thank the multitudes of you who have helped make a difference in Southern Sudan by your financial support. We are especially grateful to the many of you who have organized your own fundraising efforts for this cause. None of this would be possible without you!

It is hard to believe that almost 6 months has passed since the Lost Boys Birthday Party in January. HELPSudan is pleased to report that we are on track to accomplish our goals this year! We have raised more than half of our $100,000 fundraising goal for 2008 and progress is being made on a well and permanent buildings at Thian Wei! Thank you to all of our supporters that have made that a possibility.

Late last year we were told that the well had started to run dry at Thian Wei and it takes half an hour of hand pumping to get water to flow. One of HELPSudan’s priorities in 2008 has been to dig a fresh well on school grounds to supply drinking water to the students. Jok has been working with Abraham (the headmaster at Thian Wei) to coordinate the well digging plans and they are in the final stages of making arrangements with a local Sudanese company. Construction of the well should begin within weeks and be completed before the end of August!

School building progress is steady but slow due to the rainy season. We are currently waiting on soil tests to be completed near Thian Wei. Once results have been analyzed we can make final selections regarding brick making machines, etc. The first building team is scheduled to be sent in the fall to teach the community in Bor how to make bricks from locally available soil and aggregate. It will take about 2-4 weeks to produce the bricks required for the school buildings and then another month to cure. A second team will then be sent to begin construction of the school. We are very excited about this process, as the community will be able to produce bricks for their own homes from locally available materials once the school has been completed.

We have had a great first half of the year, and have an even more challenging and exciting road ahead of us for the second half. Thanks for your support so far this year!

HELPSudan has had an outpouring of support this summer from young people all over North America and we want to recognize the students that have gone out of their way to make a difference in the lives of children in Sudan.

Jessie Lilly, a high school Freshman at Parkland Composite High School in Edson, Alberta, Canada, organized a barbeque and art auction in her hometown on June 3 to benefit HELPSudan. Local artists and fellow students donated more than 40 works of art. The event was a huge success and exceeded Jessie’s fundraising goal of $10,000. As an added bonus, all plates and cups at the barbeque were 100% biodegradable!

After studying the Lost Boys in Brenda Foust’s World History classes, 4 high school sophomore classes in Iowa (110 students!) wanted to raise money to help Sudan. Together, they sold recycled glass beaded bracelets and raised nearly $800 to help educate children in Sudan!

Laura Krughoff, currently pursuing her Ph.D., hosted an event at Evanston Friends on May 31st benefitting HELPSudan and Jewish World Watch. Jok, Ajang, and a couple other board members attended. We had a potluck dinner, watched HELPSudan | IMPERATIVES, viewed a photographic documentation of Darfur, and listened to Jok speak. Those in attendance gave nearly $1,000 as well as a very generous matching donation for a total of almost $2,000!

Emily Coalson's 6th grade students at KIPP : LA Prep Middle School worked to educate family and friends about the plight of people in Sudan. Through bake sales and other fundraising efforts, they raised $200 to help the kids at Thian Wei in Bor, Sudan!

Youth Helping Youth from Next Step, an Outreach School in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada came up with the great idea of holding a Wake-A-Thon. Several students stayed up all night and raised $754 for HELPSudan! More information about this event can be seen in our May 2008 Newsletter.

HELPSudan wants to share more exciting stories like these in every Newsletter. If you have put creative fund raising ideas into action, we want to hear from you. If you have held or would like to host an event for HELPSudan, please contact us at info@helpsudaninternational.org.

On Saturday, June 8, HELPSudan participated in walkSUDAN, a 5K walk-a-thon to raise awareness about the plight of the Lost Boys. Organized by EndlessEye.org and also partnering with Panyijiar Community Development Services (pacodes.org), the walk along the Chicago lakefront was almost rained out. 30+ people trudged on though, chanting “They walked to live… We walk to give!” Check out the footage on our YouTube page.

The organizers of the event made a 20 year commitment to the Lost Boys, promising to have the walk every year to help rebuild Sudan.

On Friday, March 28, HELPSudan was featured on Focus On Africa, a talk show on CAN TV. Host Samuel Memoh interviewed Founder Jok Kuol Wel, and Chairman Del Shimandle about HELPSudan’s efforts to establish schools, recruit teachers and provide school supplies, clean water and health resources in southern Sudan.

When the Lost Boys came to the United States, most did not know their date of birth, so the US Government assigned them all January 1st. As a way to celebrate, HELPSudan’s annual fundraiser is a Birthday Party for the Lost Boys held in January.

And what a party it was… Held at the beautiful Swedish American Museum on Chicago’s north side, we were thrilled that the bitter cold weather didn’t keep anyone from attending. In fact, we had a capacity crowd! Our first attempt at a Silent Auction was a terrific success, the food was delicious, the décor was elegant, and the Lost Boys Choir was a rousing highlight. The debut of our “IMPERATIVES” video was well received, and coupled with Arloa Sutter’s enthusiasm and her challenge to give, we were able to get off to a great start with our fund raising goal for 2008.

We have great news to tell you! With gifts given through the start of the year and at the fundraiser on Saturday, the total amount raised is more than $33,000! We’re very grateful to each one of you for your generous support.

On Thursday, January 17, HELPSudan was featured on the Worldview talk show on Chicago Public Radio. Host Jerome McDonnell interviewed Founder Jok Kuol Wel and Board Chairman Del Shimandle and encouraged listeners to come out to our 2nd Annual Fundraiser, the Birthday Party for the Lost Boys. You can listen to the show on the Worldview website.

Happy New Year! 2007 was a great year for us. We exceeded our goal and raised over $40,000! With those funds we were able to continue paying 10 teacher salaries, send three board members to visit the school and to bring school supplies, blankets and mosquito nets, and also to purchase a cellular phone for the headmaster in order to facilitate regular communication with us.

We are also proud to announce that the Thian Wei school is so successful and so well appreciated by the community that, late in 2007, the local government body decided to take over responsibility of paying the teacher salaries!

From the beginning it has been our goal to start schools in a self-sustaining model, providing financial and logistical support as a means of jumpstarting efforts that would be taken over by the Sudanese themselves. We are thankful that the community and the local government recognize the quality of Thian Wei school. But even more, we are thrilled with the opportunity it gives us to focus our efforts on even more substantial goals in 2008: we are developing plans to dig a fresh well and to build a permanent school building for Thian Wei school.

HELPSudan is very pleased to announce that we are within $6,000 of achieving our 2007 fundraising goal of $40,000!  Thanks to your support we are confidently able to say that HELPSudan will provide a stipend for the entire year to Thianwe Headmaster Abraham Akech, the Deputy Headmaster, nine teachers, and three cooks that prepare meals for students every day!
We still need that last push to meet the goal of $40,000 and we need your help to do it!  Please click on the donation link above for details about how to get involved with HELPSudan.  (Online donations are coming soon!)

If this isn’t your first trip to HELPSudan’s website, you may have noticed quite a few changes.  At this point, they have mostly been cosmetic but we aren’t done yet!  We are in the process of updating content (including the news!) as you read this.  Several new features lie in the near future including a signup form for our e-newsletter, an RSS news feed, online donations, and a couple other surprises we’re working on.  Please keep checking back as these updates happen, but right now please check out the newest feature, our Media Page!  Just click the Media link above to view a video of the exploratory mission to Sudan that three HELPSudan board members went on earlier this year as well as an awesome journal that Eric kept during journey… more to come!

Some of you know, and some of you may not, that Ajang “Michael” Bol (one of HELPSudan’s founding board members) recently returned home to Bor, Sudan for three months.  While there, he reunited with several family members he has not seen in over 20 years.  He visited Thianwe and spent a few days working with Headmaster Abraham and even taught a few classes while he was there!  Michael also helped to make the first funds transfer directly to Thianwe’s bank account in Sudan, which provided three months stipend for everyone volunteering at Thianwe.  Ajang has returned to the US safely.