About the Project
To provide access and availability to clean water and hand-washing through the construction of a water point for 2,600 students attending two (2) primary schools that comprise Akobo Primary School.
Location
Akobo Primary School, Bielkey Payam, Akobo County, Jonglei State, South Sudan
Quick Project Stats
| Funding Date | December 1, 2024 |
| Luena Investment | $3,750 USD |
| CBO Partner | Center for Environmental Advocacy and Development (CEDA) |
| Village | Akobo |
| Country | South Sudan |
| # of Children Impacted | 2,600 |
| Community Contribution | manual labor, contribution of locally-available materials (gravel) |
About Akobo
A protracted humanitarian crisis continues to have devastating implications for millions of people in South Sudan. Multiple shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing regional conflict and violence, consecutive years of devastating floods, acute food insecurity, and continuing levels of human migration have threatened the livelihoods of 14.3 million people. It is estimated that almost one in every three persons in the country will urgently require humanitarian assistance in 2022.
The multi-faceted nature of the crisis has created significant challenges for the delivery of humanitarian aid, and access to essential services (e.g. healthcare, education, WASH) is severely limited, particularly in high-conflict/high-displacement areas. Our project partner helped us to target primary schools in Akobo County, where there is currently no available access to improved water sources for school children. Lack of adequate WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) conditions poses a critical factor in the dropout rate among school children, especially those that are already highly vulnerable from other underlying factors.
Working with our local partner, Luena Foundation provided funding to improve access and availability of clean water through the construction of a shared water point for 2,600 students at two adjacent primary schools (girls and boys) in Akobo, thus increasing their ability to study and lowering the chronic rate of school abandonment.
Hand-in-Hand Effort Alongside the Local Community
Our donation of $3,750 was used to build a preschool that will enable several local women to work to feed their families while their young children receive quality care. The local government will be granting funding for two people from the community to work in the preschool and the community itself invested their time and energy as an in-kind contribution to help build the preschool.
The idea to build a community preschool emerged from the demands of the villagers themselves, and more precisely the demand of the women/ mothers, who need to work in the fields, and in the same time take care of their children.
The preschool is estimated to accommodate around 20 children per school year. The first school year started in September 2021 with 22 children, shortly after the construction was completed. The preschool will be equipped with solar panels, in order to allow children to benefit from educational activities requiring audiovisual material.
Community Feedback
I am personally very grateful for the generous support from Luena Foundation. A huge thank you to Luena Foundation and specifically to Emily and Ryan for entrusting CEDA with a grant to reach the school children living in the dire situation of water shortage. The immense effort from our field team is also commendable.
– Gatbel, CEDA volunteer
Meet our Partner Community-Based Organization
Center for Environmental Advocacy and Development (CEDA), was formed by a group of young South Sudanese volunteers whose shared goal is to promote sustainable development goals in their country by targeting humanitarian and environmental issues such as climate change, WASH, general waste management, and renewable energy.
Click here to learn more about our partner CBO
