The Water for the Sudan’s Project

More than half the population of Sudan does not have access to clean water.
In many villages young children are walking kilometres each day to fetch water in jerry cans. Many have only one meal a day, because the rest of the day is taken up by fetching water.
SSNET has partnered with International Aid Services (IAS) to provide
clean water to the people of the Sudans. SSNET funds specific water projects within the borders of the Sudans.
Annual visits to the Sudans and the specific projects, by the members and
partners of SSNET, ensure accurate feedback to our supporters and funders.

On a visit to the village of Nimule in September 2018 where SSNET funded
the drilling of a borehole, the wife of the village chief remarked:

“We used to carry water from the town to our village on our heads in buckets. Because of this labour our hair at the top our heads stopped growing. Now that we have this borehole we do not have to carry on our heads anymore so the hair will grow back. Thank you for allowing us to be beautiful again.”

IAS (International Aid Services) began its work in Sudan in 2002 with a vision to help the most vulnerable and needy.With drilling rigs in four rural states (Red Sea, South Kordofan, West Darfur, and South Darfur) and years of experience in well drilling, IAS is recognized as one of the leading organizations drilling new boreholes in the Sudans. In 2015 IAS drilled 27 new boreholes, in addition to rehabilitating 42 existing boreholes and constructing 7 mini water yards. Today, thousands of Sudanese have cleaner, more reliable supply of water because of this work.

Without real changes in hygiene practices, clean water alone will not be enough to change the high rates of diarrhea and waterborne disease in many rural communities. As IAS drill new boreholes and rehabilitate broken ones, they go further to work together with these communities to educate them on fundamental hygiene issues and promote changes which will bring long-term improvement to their health and wellness.

 

The Beja People’s Project

What urged a former Mrs. World to travel to the ends of the earth to get involved with the Beja people? Manda Gomes, S4J athlete and former Mrs. World Universal 2013, did just that by traveling with a team from South Africa. Her mission was to, as part of the S4J, connect with Beja people where they live in North East Africa.

Who are the Beja peoples?

The Beja is a group of traditionally nomadic shepherds who live scattered across the desert regions of Sudan, Egypt, and Eritrea. The Beja are an important people group and represent the largest non-Arabic ethnic group between the Nile River and the Red Sea. They are an assertive people with small, strong, wiry frames, long noses, and oval faces.

How are we involved with them?

The focus of SSNET among the Beja people is to bring hope and relief in practical ways. We do this through the people who live and work among the Beja. This help is given in various forms like addressing critical medical and educational needs. More specifically, eye surgery and learning resources.

How did decide how to be involved?

A team from South Africa visited Egypt in February 2019. Through a journey of discovery, the group was lead to decide on supporting eye surgeries and education among the Beja people. A first donation was made towards this during the visit to Egypt.

Our involvement with the Beja people stretches over many years. As a fundraiser, this is the baby among the four S4J projects. Although in its first year of inception, as a fundraising project this group is in the lead for quite a number of months now.

Norman Johnson

We have a New-Look Website

Last week we launched our brand new website. We are so proud of how it looks. Many hours of hard work has gone into the building of this site. A special thank you to Sampie Enslin who has toiled relentlessly to get the site ready in a record time.

We have made some major improvements like:

  • Donation page more efficient
  • S4J page filled with information
  • Modernized the overall feel of the site

Do yourself a favour and pop around to www.sudansupport.org and let us know what you think by leaving us a message on this blog. We would love to know.

Eddie Howden

S4J Wally Hayward Water table

S4J was on their post again at the Wally Hayward Marathon. It was a day filled with fun and fellowship. Once again a big THANK YOU to the girls from St. Mary’s DSG and the Polsslag Voortrekker Commando. Without you we would not have been able to make this work.

For the first time we had lots of little souls running around and making the point a very lively and more than usually busy place

And then there were those that could just not wait to serve the potatoes…

All told it was a day that the Lord blessed tremendously. We were so glad to be part of it.

Next up……… COMRADES!!!!!

The Bibles for the Sudan’s Project

We would like to give our athletes a more frequent update on the projects that are currently running at S4J. This week we will focus on the Bibles for the Sudan’s project.

One of the key projects of the S4J is Bible distribution to South Sudan and Sudan. We are aiming to sponsor 10000 Bibles to Sudan and 20000 Bibles to South Sudan at R 5 each in 2019. Currently we have 38 athletes raising funds for this project.

The the next batch of Bibles is being printed and readied for the long trip to North Africa. 10 000 Bibles will be going to Sudan and 20 000 Bibles will be delivered to a refugee camp in Kapoeta in South Sudan in the next couple of months.

A limited edition S4J Bible was launched at the recent 2019 50 km Loskop Marathon that took place on 13 April. Chanelle Retief’s father Johann and mother Cindy was at the gazebo to hand out Bibles as the Holy Spirit lead. The theme of S4J at Loskop was: celebrating the Life and Legacy of Pierre & Erika Bantjes. We created a profile so that people who wanted to donate could do so. Betsie Drost, our Financial Administrator, was representing the SSNET office at the tent. It was a most memorable day.