Dear friends, 

 

As we move into the New Year we'd like to take the time to express gratitude for all that has been given. We want to thank all our dedicated donors, volunteers, interns, South Sudan students, teachers, and parents.

 

We especially want to thank our South Sudan Director, Daniel Majok Gai, who has guided his people, like Moses in the Wilderness, to safety during the current conflict in South Sudan. His selflessness is a hallmark of his character. His love for youth, education, the poor and helping his people to self-sufficiency are his guiding principles. He is a man of his word, prefers to do his work without self-promotion and is committed to honesty, goodness and serving others.

 

In celebration of his family's safety and survival and his desire to continue to help build his country, Daniel is encouraging all of us to open our hearts and make a significant donation to help finish the four classrooms in his home village of Pagook in order to continue the hope that education brings to the struggle for freedom and self-sufficiency in South Sudan. We are mindful that in the current state of instability, we must be prudent and cautious in how and when we resume our construction in Pagook. We will continue to assess the situation and keep you informed about our plans.

 

On my first trip to South Sudan in 2005, three months after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, I was deeply moved by the children sitting under a tree, learning from a volunteer teacher who was using an old scrap of blackboard to teach. The children were starving, ill, with no clean water, shards of clothing covering their bodies; yet dedicated to learning under the most dire conditions.

 

Once again, the children will arise from the ashes of carnage to continue their education. We are their hope. We can help them continue to fulfill their dreams of education. They have not depended on their government to help them fulfill this dream, they have depended on YOU. And you have always come through. Let's give the 600 children of Tong Pagook Primary School a New Year filled with the gift of HOPE.

 

We have $15,000 for a new water well, a $10,000 corporate donation, along with another $10,000 and counting in donations to date toward the Pagook classrooms. We need to reach our $50,000 goal NOW for the Pagook classrooms to help them re-build their dreams of peace, hope and education.

 

Please help in whatever way you can. We wish you and your family a joyful and blessed New Year.