This week students from the Ajong Primary School in Mayan-Abun, South Sudan, Skyped with young people their age half-way around the world at School 36 in the Rochester City School District. The Ajong School, like the majority of schools in towns and villages in South Sudan, doesn’t have any electricity. But that didn’t stop our Skype session. We drove the kids to the Action Against Hunger compound in the village to set up my laptop for a 9:15 a.m. (est) date with the students of Michelle Sutton’s 6th grade class at School 36.
There’s a unique connection between the Ajong School and School 36. Sebastian Maroundit of Building Minds in Sudan has talked in various classrooms throughout the Rochester City School District about his experiences as a “Lost Boy” of Sudan, about the difficulty of a childhood without parents during a time of war, acclimating to a new land and culture when he arrived in Rochester, and the importance of forgiveness and rising above one’s circumstances. Students from School 36 have connected with his story and a number of classes are planning to set up fundraisers for the Ajong School to help equip the nearly 1-year-old school building with much-needed resources such as pencils, paper and books.
The students from Ajong were anxious to finally meet some of the kids they’ve heard a lot about from Maroundit and their headmaster. The six students who participated in the Skype chat came up with a series of questions for Michelle Sutton’s class. When it was “go time” you could’ve heard a pin drop as the South Sudanese students positioned themselves in front of the computer screen and saw their new friends in America in real-time, for the first time.
Students from School 36 asked the kids from Ajong about their favorite subjects, after-school activities, lunch and books they enjoyed reading. They also gave them a Skype tour of their classroom. The students from Ajong explained many of their peers don’t sit in classrooms, but under trees where classes are taught by teachers daily. They asked the kids from School 36 about the weather, school transportation, and about their daily lives to learn about the similarities and differences between them.
When the Skype chat ended the South Sudanese students clapped for their peers in Rochester and thanked them for their support. They also invited them to the village of Mayan-Abun so they could meet in person, give them a tour of their new school, and continue learning about their American friends who no longer seemed so far away, but rather close to home.
This is part of WXXI’s reporting and civic engagement initiative around Schools for South Sudan, which explores issues related to education, diversity and racism locally and around the world. Schools for South Sudan is supported in part by The Community Foundation. Follow Hélène's reporting trip on Twitter: @HeleneWXXI and #SouthSudanEd