We’ve all heard stories about grandparents walking barefoot through the snow to get to school “when they were young”…. We wink a bit or roll our eyes at the exaggeration.  But in Sudan, these stories are true—except, of course, for the part about the snow.  It is common for young girls to walk 2 or 3 hours each way every day through the bush to attend school.  Boarders come from distances as far as 1,000 miles; they go home only once in several years.  One pre-teen from the Nuba Mountains in Southern Sudan explained how it took her about 14 hours to get home from St. Bakhita School: first, a rough ride in the back of an open truck for 10 hours, bouncing along rutted dirt paths, and then a long hike on foot, up a steep mountain to her village.  “The last 4 hours I walk uphill with my suitcase on my head. If it slips off,” she said, “it tumbles a long way down and I have to chase it and begin again.”

Well, let’s face it: I will never be able to balance anything on my head other than a hat. And I certainly could not carry a suitcase uphill (or even downhill) for 4 hours.  I’m not sure I would be motivated enough, as a primary school student, to be so far away from my family, either, for years at a stretch.  Girls in Sudan, however, jump at the chance to attend school.  Any difficulties melt away when compared to the chance of becoming literate, postponing an early arranged marriage, and developing their innate talents. Sadly, fewer than 15% of girls in Southern Sudan ever have the opportunity for schooling. Mercy Beyond Borders is working to change that.

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