SunWater Sudan – School children needing clean water

Campaign objective

Knalle School in Sudan needs desperately to repair their water well and make it powered by the Sun in order to sustain & develop a better present and future. We have raised almost half the sum needed, now with your help we hope to finish up.

What we want to do now:

- We want to support the school kids and teachers at Knalle school in the middle of Sudan to get clear fresh water enough for drinking and irrigation of new planted trees and vegetables affecting the daily life of more than 200 people directly and many more indirectly.

- We want in a project form to encourage the empowerment and selfconfidence of children and teachers in the Knalle school to work together in democratic ways for goals they decide together to priroritate

- We want to assist the Knalle school to be the local centre not only for children but also for adult education and ecological development that it once was supposed to be

- Help it to be green again

- Stop the detoriation of buildings and environment due to sand drift

- Making adult staff to stay in the school longer periods and parents to take an active part in the school ́s future

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What we want to do next:

After finishing with the water well of Knalle School we want to continue and also support the village of El Awaja with similar restoration and equipment for their water well and support them so that once again like before they can be an example for others concerning cultivation with environmentally friendly methods of trees and vegetables, women and men working hard together.

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What makes this fundraiser of even higher value now:

After long positive talks with University of Kordufan (Sudan), the University have decided to start up a Local Development Center in the Knalle school premises supporting rural development west of the town Bara affecting thousands of people from Bara and many villages around. El Awaja can then become a local site for education of the villagers east of Bara. But they need us first to solve the water issue at Knalle school. You can read more about the local development center in the Background section bellow.

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How much is needed and what have we done so far:

The best offer we received was initially a total of 11,100 USD (see bellow) for Knalle Schools well and a similar amound for El Awaja villages well. This includes equipment, work and training.

We have succeeded in negotiating and reducing the cost, and the contractor accepted to give us a discount also since we will have two projects with him (Knalle School and El Awaja), so we got down the cost for Knalle Schools well to 7700 USD (El Awaja for 8800 USD).

Prior to making this online fundraising at GoGetFunding, we had collected from our members and friends in Sweden 40,000 SEK (approx. 3800 USD depending on currency rate) and currently what we have left to raise for Knalle Schools well is 41,000 SEK (or approx. 4000 USD).

The contractor was kind and agreed to start the work and get an initial payment we had collected then (transferred 38000 SEK), and then pay the rest as soon as we can. We therefor look forward for your kind support so to raise the remaining sum of 41,000 SEK (~ 4000 USD). Then we can fulfil our payment so the contractor can finish the work and the school gets its water system in full use, which will be the key for a better situation for the school children, and for Knalle School to become the centre for development in the area.

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Background:

Why Solar Energy

What Sudan has much of is a lot of warm hot sun

most time of the year except for a few weeks during the rainy season when there even can be floodings. So what could be better to use than all present sun to get clean lasting energy.

When SSA 1985 started the village project outside Bara in altogether 6 villages Shiraim El Kharamsha, El Awaja and Um Laham (now El Feija) east of Bara and Foja, Shiq el Nome and later Umm Zein west of Bara. Providing the villages with
water from covered wells equipped with solar pumps, solar panels, tank, cables and power station – we were a pioneer in the area of solar energy in Sudan. Many other organisations and officials came and visited the project that provided with water, planting Acacia Senegal trees (Arabic/Sudanese Gum), fruit trees etc. and vegetables.

The project was run by a committee in each village consisting of equal number of women and men and the income from the selling of vegetables and fruit was shared and used for the benefit of the whole villages. We only used high quality systems for the solar water and the villagers especially choosed to be responsible for the handling of the wells was teached on the spot and also went away to course to be able to see that the systems were handled in the right manner and to distribute their knowledge to others.

See the Swedish Televisions documentary of the project in 1985 in our YouTube channel (Youtube Video ).

Now since the 80s the solar pump systems have gotten very old and are not functioning any longer. Diesel driven pumps that are the main alternative has now gotten very expensive to use because of the consistently raising prices of petrol, diesel and oil. There is now a big shortage of diesel in Sudan after the division from one to two countries Sudan and Southsudan. And environmentally of course diesel is a very bad solution.

Sudan is a country severely affected by the climate change, the weather becoming hotter and dryer. We are in contact with a very reliable firm, Solarman Company Ltd, that has supported the project with delivering and installing solar systems over 30 years and that we now we can trust ot do good quality work to reasonable fixed prices. This is the firm that has given us the offer for the solar pump system, delivered, installed and put into function.

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The Knalle school

The Knalle school was built and inaugurated in 1993, between the villages of Foja, Shiq el Nome and Mashqa that did't have any functioning basic schools at that time. As all the children should have the same distance to the school it was placed in the middle of the three villages. The thought was that the school also should teach about ecological effective methods for planting of trees, vegetables and crops and the children had their own plot for growing vegetables and fruit trees. Trees were planted to give shade and around the whole area a green fence was planted.

The school was made larger than an ordinary basic school to be a local educational center for adult education, seminars and meetings. Accept for class rooms and teacher ́s room it also contained a dining hall, dormitories for students sleeping over, teacher ́s houses, mulitpurpose hall, work shops, health clinic and a lot of toilets. Solar energy was used for lightening and the use of TV and computer etc. Money for the School was to 20% raised by private donors, companies and to the largest extent money collection and day ́s work in three following years by school children from Marks ́ high school. The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) then added 80 percent of the money for the village project and the Knalle school during the years 1985-1997.

Unfortunately, since many years Knalle school is only an ordinary basic school for about 200 children, and it is mainly the class rooms that are used. The fence is teared down, only a few trees prevail, there are no longer any functioning lightning, most of the buildings are severely undermined by the sand drift and this is the first year that no of the teacher ́s house can be used so all the teachers has to go back and forth to Bara and other places each day. The hard conditions lead to that the school staff doesn ́t stay long and children ́s are showing signs of malnutrition since the school is no longer a part of the world food programme as before. All this can now be changed.

After years of talks with SSA The University of Kordufan want to establish a Local Development Center in the school giving courses in the fields of agriculture, tree planting, water resources, animal breeding, health, handicraft out of waste materials and of course education. Courses should be held both at the Knalle school and in the villages surrounding Bara. The villages SSA have been active in will all send their participants to the courses. SSA has also got money for a democracy project in the Knalle school with the aim that the school children and staff will get the feeling that they can change their daily life conditions. Class meetings and seminars will be held by SSA in the school starting up the process of coming together in organised form to determine fields to prioritate and start acting to improve the situation. SSA believes and hope that tree planting and vegetable gardening will be one of these activities.

Authorities in El Obeid and Bara are positive to these ideas and has said that they will see the possibilities to give support in fencing and restoration of buildings.

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The village of El Awaja

For many years the village of El Awaja had the best functioning project for tree plantation and vegetable gardening. Women and men working hard together and the women having a very strong voice in decision making. It is a poor village without own school or health center. The children has to walk three kilometres to the nearest school in the village of Shiraim el Kharamsha. Now the solar pump and panels are broken and so are even the diesel pump that replaced them for a time. The flourishing plot full of plants and trees are now completely dry and taking over by the sand again. But the sand is nutritive if it only gets enough water. For this reason SSA wants El Awaja to be the eastern centre for education from the University of Kordufan within the concept of the Local Development Center. An example for the surrounding villages to apply in their own villages.

But for all this water is needed – for that reason SSA wants to install a new solar pump system in the existing well as soon as Knalle school has got theirs.

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Who are we?

Swedish Sudanese Association, SSA (official name in Swedish: Svensk-Sudanska Föreningen) is a Non-Profit association with no political or religious affiliation with the overall goals:

- to work for mutual understanding and close relations between Swedish and Sudanese people.
- to spread knowledge about Sudan in Sweden and Sweden in Sudan
- to promote and support social, cultural, educational and professional exchanges between Swedish and Sudanese people.
- to work for a good quality of life for people in Sweden and Sudan based on human rights* and respect for all peoples equal worth.

*Human rights defined according to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Our activities in the villages around Bara

Swedish Sudanese Association (SSA) has been active in the Bara-area since 1985. During the period 1985-1997 SSA cooperated with 6 villages about a village development project (Supported by first SIDA and then Forum Syd) containing covering of wells with monolift pumps for drinking water, digging of new wells for irrigation with installation of complete solarpumpsystems, plantation of trees like Acacia Senegal (that can give Gum Arabic) and different fruit trees and vegetable gardens.

The project was thoroughly discussed with the different villages/villagers before they decided to join the project and the project was headed by village committees consisting of both women and men, responsible for planning, mutual work and to decide upon the income that the village got from selling vegetables and fruits.

The Health situation in the villages improved drastically after the wells were covered as stomach deseases became much less common. Women became much more involved in the decisionmaking of the villages and as some men went away to work in other places the project sites were in several villages taken care of largely by the women.

The vegetation in and nearby the villages became richer. Apart from much better access to vegetables and fruits the income from selling became a start for further intiatives taken by the villagers without involvement from SSA. In three of the villages school has been built and in two of them health clinics.

SSA has continued to network around the villages even after the project was concluded 1997, visiting the project villages and schools every year. Lack of spare parts when solarpump or solarpanels needed to be changed has become a problem and some mistreatment of the equipment has also taken place. In some villages the solar pump was replaced by diesel pumps when they had served their time. Some villages kept the projects running for a long time while some emphasized more on other development schemes. In two of the villages the project has been revived by contacts taken from SSA and others with the North Kordufan Drought Recovery Project and local and regional authorities.

Due to more severe climate conditions the Acacia Senegal hasn´t endured as was the thought and it was only a shorter time that the villages got a substantial income from selling gum Arabic. Adult education and lectures from professionals in health, agriculture etc. became a part of the project.

Between three villages that lacked proper basic education a school, Knalle school, was built. The funding for the project came, by others, from three years of moneycollection and voluntary work in Marks secondary school (Marks gymnasium) gathering more than half a million crowns! The School was inaugurated 1993 and has since then provided basic education for about 200 girls and boys a year.

SSA has started to collect money to restore the solar pump system in the well including solar pump, solar panels, electric control panels, water tank, cables and hooses etc. Because now the University of Kordufan can play a big role in supervising, maintaining and teaching in how to handle the water resources.

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Natural Cooler station

SSA also created a new water cooler station during the summer-2018 where the children can wash their hands, with support from a fundraising made by friends to a tragically deceased young Sudanese Swedish woman, Samerin Osama Mudawi, who died in a car accident in Australia. Prior to the natural "sand" water cooler the kids were both taking drinking water and washed their hands with water gathered in open barrels, which was also open for animals and birds to use.

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Scholarship programme

Since 2003 SSA has been carrying out a scholarship programme for children having gone to the Knalle school enabling 2 girls and 2 boys each year to study in the secondary school (maximum support three years) and 1 girl and 1 boy to study in the university (maximum support four years). This means that SSA is distributing scholarships for about 20 children each year. Althogether more than 50 pupils has been studying with scholarships from SSA and about 25 of them has taken university exams.

Every year 2 girls and 2 boys in each class in the Knalle school are given incentives to encourage their studies. The handling of incentives and scholarships are taken care of by a school committee that selects the incentive and scholarship takers with the help from the school staff, follow up their studies, distributes the money and send annual reports to SSA.

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Womans clinic

Apart from this SSA has supported Bara hospital with medical equipment and supported the building of a women clinic in connection to the hospital. SSA started activities in Khartoum area already in the 80-tees. Medical equipment and medicin was collected in Sweden and sent to different hospitals in Khartoum.

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Sweden house

In 2003 the Sweden House was inaugurated in Khartoum "International Park" where SSA had been granted a plot and had a small friggebod since 1994. The house has been the venue for many cultural and social activities. Sudanese Swedish Friendship Association" (SSFA) that takes care of the house and is responsible for the activities has activities there almost every week. Since 2010, SSFA also conducted Swedish teaching in the house with certified Swedish courses. 2008, a youth committee was formed in SSA to get more young people active in the association where young people wanted to do something for young people in Sudan by forming their own Facebook group with members in Sweden and Sudan.

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Orphanage

The young SSA'ers decided to commonly raise money for children in an orphanage in Khartoum. A home for boys with disabilities was selected as recipients. The environment in the orphanage has improved significantly; it has been painted and decorated, supported with toys, equipment and clothes. Toilets have been restored and the volunteer staff received some financial support. The orphanage has been linked to young people with medical experience and knowledge and the desire to come and hang out with the kids. Some boys have been helped to study or take contact with their biological families. With fundraising activities in Sweden a donations have been collected without help from any outside organization.

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Other

2013-2014 SSA applied together with SSFA for funding from Forum Syd for a project with Sweden House as a base “Creating development possibilities for young people in Khartoum”. SSFA wanted to stimulate, create and offer activities that should encrease the knowledge of young people, (15-40years) about their legal rights, their responsibilities and possibilities in the civil society. The aim was to strenghten the young people in their personal development and the choice of life, create job possibilities and prevent them from criminality.

SSA and SSFA were granted money for a forestudy and several seminars were held with youngsters from different part of Khartoum where they together formed ideas for different activities concerning professionals and older people telling about their professions and experiences, history seminars about Sudan, collecting garbage in the streets in poor areas for recycling projects, social and cultural activities, guidance for enterprising etc.

The project should be decided upon and be carried out by the youngsters in democratical forms with equal influence and responsibilities regardless of background, sex, social status or other individual factors. Unfortunately the project wasn´t granted funding from Forum Syd that then thought the link to influence on democracy in Sudan should be stronger. This lead to that only a few of the activities were realized.

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Chairman

Ola Nordlund (56) is engaged in Swedish Sudanese Association (SSA) since 2003, the last years elected as chairman of the board. He has visited Sudan 10 times since 2003 and my last visit was January 2018. His mother Gunvor Nordlund has visited Sudan 25 times 1981-2010 and was active in Swedish Sudanese association most of this time and chairman for almost 20 years, so the love for Sudan has been in the family for long.

Ola has a degree in Law and works since 20 years at the National SwedishEmployment Board. He lives with his wife Rosa-Maria, son and daughter in a the suburbs south of the capital Stockholm, Sweden, and they rent a summer cottage next to a lake. He values and loves water and green nature. Ola is the main contact person in the board of SSA for Knalle School, Local Development Center, and the Bara villages projects, including this fundraiser.

The elected board (2019-2020) includes:

• Ola Nordlund, Chairman
• Khadija Norell, Treasurer
• Ali El Tom, admin of Web, online Social Media and Fundraising.
• Yasmin Osman
• Motasim Jameel
• Rosa Maria Nordlund
• Awatif Hazem
• Babiker El Obeid

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Are you willing to help us support the Local development center, the children, school staff and parents in Knalle school and hopefully later also the village of El Awaja?

We have a big possibility to give our contribution to better living conditions for thousands of people in the Bara area.

Help us make this possible! We are thankful for everything you are able to contribute.

Help us gather the rest of the sum needed for the instalment of the first solar pump system for Knalle School. We will keep you updated and through different channels and as soon as we finish we will start gathering for the next project the village of El Awaja which you we hope you will be with us then from the start.

We look forward to achieve this great target together with you!

Also, If you want to become a member of our organization or stay in touch with us, visit our Homepage (in Swedish) , Facebook (English) or Twitter .

If you have any questions, please write us at: info (a) swedishsudanese.org

You can find our latest updated constitution and Annual Report in english by clicking the following:

SSA Constitution
SSA Annual Report 2018

Thank You So much from us at SSA and from the kids and staff at Knalle School!