September 2021
Breaking the Famine Cycle in Rumbek
We are partnering with this amazing mother to break the cycle of famine. Do you see what is fantastic about this mother? She is so determined to provide for her children that she is plowing a field barefoot, planting peanuts, a popular cash crop.
The government has asked everyone to plant so that South Sudan would not slide into famine this year. We learned the parents of our students in Rumbek had the determination to plant, but they had no seeds! Thanks to the Annenberg Foundation, we provided seeds for annual crops and seedlings for fruit-bearing trees. Providing them with guava, mango, and lemon seedlings can help provide nutrition for years to come, and can also reforest areas stripped for firewood. After the success with this year’s planting in Rumbek, we hope to continue this project in other regions of South Sudan. Your donations for seeds empower the poorest to be the solution, rather than the victims of famine.
November 2021
Your Partnership With A Heroic Mom!
Empowered for peanuts! The success of Nyandit Mabuong, a mother of eight.
By Paul Awan, Rumbek, South Sudan
Nyandit’s children were hungry, planting season had arrived, and she had no seeds to plant. “I was seriously battling what to feed my children and what I was going to plant during the rainy season. I was not thinking of any goodwill donation or help from any organization until surprisingly, Sudan Sunrise showed up”. In partnership with the Future Generation School, Sudan Sunrise gave seeds and seedlings to 55 of the neediest families. We gave Nyandit a single large sack of peanuts just in time for the rainy season. Fired by a mother’s determination to feed her hungry children, Nyandit plowed her field barefoot. That one large bag became a harvest of ten large bags of peanuts! Nyandit proclaimed, “This is the first time I have harvested ten sacks of peanuts since I started cultivating 30 years ago! My usual harvest is four sacks or less. A portion of the peanut harvest we are eating, and a portion we have sold so we could send some of my children to school.”
Nyandit’s children were hungry, planting season had arrived, and she had no seeds to plant. “I was seriously battling what to feed my children and what I was going to plant during the rainy season. I was not thinking of any goodwill donation or help from any organization until surprisingly, Sudan Sunrise showed up”. In partnership with the Future Generation School, Sudan Sunrise gave seeds and seedlings to 55 of the neediest families. We gave Nyandit a single large sack of peanuts just in time for the rainy season. Fired by a mother’s determination to feed her hungry children, Nyandit plowed her field barefoot. That one large bag became a harvest of ten large bags of peanuts! Nyandit proclaimed, “This is the first time I have harvested ten sacks of peanuts since I started cultivating 30 years ago! My usual harvest is four sacks or less. A portion of the peanut harvest we are eating, and a portion we have sold so we could send some of my children to school.”
Nyandit’s arranged marriage was at age 14 to a soldier who earns 2,000 South Sudanese pounds a month (five USdollars). This amount can’t even buy a single tin of peanuts which currently costs 4,000 SSP in the market. Nyandit said she would like to donate one sack of her peanuts to someone in need. When the Sudan Sunrise seeds project coordinator asked her why she wanted to donate when she was also in need herself, Nyandit responded, “I did not think I could cultivate this year. We ate all we had during the COVID 19 lockdown and I had nothing left to plant. But, surprisingly, God provided for us through Sudan Sunrise. Now that I have harvested ten sacks of peanuts from a single bag, maybe the person I give it to might harvest ten sacks next year! I believe there is more blessing in giving. I was praying day and night for God’s blessing, and my prayers were answered. I now want to be used by God to bless someone else in need.” Nyandit has food for their table, can send some of her children to school, she can help one family, and she will still have
seeds to plant next year.
seeds to plant next year.
Annenberg Foundation Grows HopeBy Paul Awan, Rumbek, South Sudan
Imagine your food has run out, and almost miraculously, you are given seeds to plant! You make a herculean effort to plant the seeds just in time for the rainy season. But this year, the rains are torrential, and your crop is destroyed! This is the sad experience of 25 of the 55 families in Rumbek who were given seeds by Sudan Sunrise. Of those 55 families given seeds, 30 had a good crop, but 25 lost everything. In all of Rumbek, 375 farms lost their crops in the worst flooding since2015.
The staff of the Future Generation School quickly devised a plan to get vegetable seeds to those who had lost everything. With the floodwaters receding, there was still a chance to grow vegetables. A portion of a generous grant from the Annenberg Foundation, matched by another
donor, provided seeds to the 25 families who had lost all hope. Quick planning, generosity, hard work and a good harvest will change a year of significant loss into a year of blessing. Thank you, Future Generation School and Annenberg Foundation and all our donors, for giving hope to those who had suffered the most.
donor, provided seeds to the 25 families who had lost all hope. Quick planning, generosity, hard work and a good harvest will change a year of significant loss into a year of blessing. Thank you, Future Generation School and Annenberg Foundation and all our donors, for giving hope to those who had suffered the most.