Elementary School
1000+
girls at St. Bakhita Girls’ Primary School (South Sudan)
920
girls at St. Gabriel Girls’ Primary School (Haiti)
100%
of girls graduate successfully
In places where girls are disadvantaged or held in low regard, single-gender schools provide the best opportunity for girls’ growth in confidence as well as academic progress. That’s why Mercy Beyond Borders gives unrestricted grants to the only all-girl elementary school in the entire country of South Sudan (St. Bakhita’s) and the only all-girl elementary school in Gros Morne, northern Haiti (St. Gabriel’s). Both schools consistently produce the highest-scoring students in their geographic regions, positioning those grads for Mercy Beyond Borders scholarships to high school and beyond.
At St. Bakhita’s in particular, Mercy Beyond Borders support (including a computer lab, new dorm, lending library, and campus nurse over and above paying the school’s annual operating budget) has transformed the campus into a magnet attracting girls from all corners of South Sudan. It is also a safe haven for girls escaping forced early marriages, a form of human trafficking.
Before Mercy Beyond Borders became involved, girls rarely graduated from St. Bakhita’s; sadly, they were pulled out by relatives to be married at puberty. A class of 100 1st graders would dwindle to a handful of girls by 8th grade. This year, however, 49 girls sat for their graduating exams and we’re thrilled with the results!
In the State of Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan, 3,471 8th graders took their national graduating exams. That number includes both boys and girls (with boys outnumbering the girls because of their advantaged status in the culture). And yet, 5 of the top 9 were girls from St Bakhita Primary, including both the highest scorer and the runner-up. All of these high achievers have now received MBB high school scholarships.
That’s real change!
Escaping Forced Marriage
Meet Sandra, a brave girl who escaped forced marriage in war-torn South Sudan, finding refuge at St. Bakhita Girls Primary School—a beacon of hope supported by Mercy Beyond Borders. Among the 1000+ girls, including 70 survivors of forced marriage, known as Champion Girls, this school offers safety and education to those who need it most.
Meet Jane
AI-generated image representation. Names & places have been changed for Jane’s protection.
My name is Jane. I am 13 years old and am from a small village in South Sudan. My mother is alive, but my father died when I was still young. I have one brother and three sisters. I am the second child of my mother. I was given to another woman in another village to stay with her after my father passed. My elder sister is married, and she also stays in another village.
My auntie arranged for me to be married off, so she came and picked me from the home where I was staying with the woman and took me to the home of the man. The man’s home was in a village far from ours. I was taken in the afternoon, and in the evening my auntie returned home. My auntie left me there as a wife to that family. I stayed only one evening at that home, because they treated me harshly. Very early the next morning, I left that village and went to my sister’s house in the other village. I knew the name of her village, so I was able to find my way.
When I arrived my Sister was happy to see me. She was aware of what our auntie had done, to marry me to that family, and my sister had been worried. But my sister told me that her home is not safe for me. Instead, my sister said I should go to our uncle’s home. So I left immediately and went to our uncle’s home. I was welcomed and I stayed there for one month. Then my mother visited my uncle, and she told him that she had come to take me back home. My mother said nothing will happen to me again so soon regarding marriage, so my uncle released me from his care. My mother took me back to the village, but upon reaching there I found my auntie and other relatives. They attacked me even before I could enter the house. They beat me, and so I decided to run from home. I went to Kapoeta.
I heard people talking about the police station while I was at the market, and I walked to that place. I found eight girls inside the police station, but after three days, five of the girls were taken back to the village from the police station to be married. I realized that the police station is safe, but not very safe because if your relatives are tough they will take you away from there and marry you off. But the police told me of another place where my relatives would not be able to take me. They explained there is a school in Narus, and girls who go to school there are not so easily taken back by their relatives to be married young. After another two days of staying at the police station, a car came and picked the 4 of us remaining and brought us to SBGPS. What that policeman told us was true, because up to now none of us have been taken again for marriage. This school really is a safe place. I don’t plan to leave until I graduate.
Thanks,