The invisible disease of COVID-19 has many invisible consequences which will only become clear in the years to come – consequences that no vaccine can alleviate. The impact of the pandemic on schools will be more acute in the Global South.
This is particularly true in South Sudan where the majority of children do not have Internet access for online learning and economic and educational structures were fragile before the coronavirus. This graphic from the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) overview paints a stark picture of the devastating educational repercussions of the pandemic:
After six months of closure during which millions of South Sudanese children were out of education, the government of South Sudan has come to an agreement to reopen all learning institutions, including the Jonglei Health Sciences Institute where classes resumed a month ago.
To support this reopening and keep children safe, Trumpeter Community Health staff have been visiting schools in Gondokoro and teaching children how to stay safe through handwashing and by providing soap. One of the schools which has benefited is St. Dominic Savio Primary School.
The school principal Mr. Louis Tagun Samuel had this to say:
‘I am very grateful to AID and African Mission for the efforts they have made to keep the school children comfortable. AID has supported Trumpeter Community Health who have been teaching our children on personal good hygiene including prevention of COVID-19. [Trumpeter staff] understand better because they have been trained on specific hygiene and sanitation. We also have water through the repaired water borehole repaired by African Mission.’
AID is thankful to Remijo Lado Lino and the Trumpeter team for their vital work during the pandemic, as well as our partners from the Netherlands, African Mission, for their collaboration with Trumpeter Community Health in repairing boreholes in and around Juba.
