Empowering 300 Women/Youth in South Sudan

Empowering 300 Women/Youth in South Sudan

Report #1

January, 11th, 2022

Project Scoop:

South Sudan has been affected by armed conflict for so long. And this has affected the economics, social fabric and the whole population. The vulnerable groups such as women, elders and children have been affected the most. Although youth are more than 60% of total population that is estimated at 11 million, they have been used for war and not represented in the decision-making bodies.

With over 60 cultural groups and 72 languages South Sudan is one of the richest countries culturally in Africa. That is an advantage we have to use in order to make voices of women and youth heard, and to use arts and culture to advocate for peace and tolerance. These groups will be trained on drama, craft making and drama I order to empower them and share their knowledge through skills they learn from this project. And be able to generate income and spread the message of peace. The project is meant to be implemented in Juba, Wau and Malakal of South Sudan. These cities have a lot of youth and women who needs help and capacity building program. 

Project Implementation and Success:

The project kicked off in Wau (one of the three regions), and many women/youths turned up and attended the training that was tailored for them. The women were 27 and youth 23 which make the total number 50! 

The sessions concentrated on role of women and youth in peace and how they can use their talent in acting and painting to bring about peace. The trainers also worked on building the capacity of the beneficiaries by supervising their work and giving professional advice to them on matters that differed from painting and acting. However, women and youth that participated in the training were provided with materials to help them carry on their work with supervision of line managers in Wau.

Testimonies:

1. Angelina, is in her late 40s and she is an IDP living inside United Nation Camps known as Protection of Civilians (PoC) in Wau, said she learned what she could have not imagine was possible given her age. She also mentioned that acting was her passion but it was not possible all this time because of family commitments and society not respecting old women who try to be actresses. As a beneficiary of the project, she is very thankful because of what she learned and said she cannot wait to share the knowledge with her friends and family once the shows start. This training gave her hope and helped in relieving her stress of sitting idly at the PoC.
2. Manyiel, young visual artist Manyiel who is only 22 years old shared his insight with the team saying that as a kid he used to draw people, animals and many other things. Once he grew up, he wanted to carry on with his work which is so talented in doing it, but lacked adequate materials and knowledge. Therefore, once he heard about this training, he came immediately hoping to shape his talent and add more technics to his experience which happened. He said that he will produce more paintings using acrylic, brushes and canvas that he was provided with, so that when next training comes, he would have produced over ten (10) paintings with different styles. He also hoped for arts gallery to be established in Wau so that visual artists may showcase their works there and make a living out of it!