The Secondary School of Sudan Interior Church (formerly Southern Blue Nile Academy) will be the first secondary school in an area of South Sudan inhabited by nearly one million people. This project is part of the Rebuilding Southern Sudan: Church and Nation program.

Established in partnership between SIM and the Sudan Interior Church, the secondary school will provide Christian education to prepare Sudan's young people to lead their nation.

	Watch a video about the Secondary School of the SIC (Southern Blue Nile Academy) project

Urgent Need for Secondary Education

A secondary school is a priority need in South Sudan for five reasons:

1. To eliminate educational dead ends. Some primary schools have been established, but graduates currently do not have a place to continue their education.
2. To facilitate the return of refugees. Displaced children and adults have been studying in secondary schools in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Kenya, Uganda and North Sudan. These young people are the future of Sudan, but will not return if they cannot continue their education.
3. To provide training and life skills. In order for future leaders to emerge from South Sudan, they must be taught.
4. To supply a Christian alternative. The only other secondary schools are Quranic schools being established by Islamic relief organizations.
5. To strengthen the Church and Community. The average education level for a church leader is grade four, and many are illiterate. Immediately after graduation, students will be able strengthen their communities as church elders, civil leaders, or government officials.

Plans for the School

The school will be constructed at the former SIM mission station in Yabus. A good water supply and an all season airstrip make this a prime location. Combined with a BELC (teacher training center) the campus will be a hub for learning and discipleship.

The school is scheduled to open its doors in September 2008. At first, the Secondary School of SIC will be staffed by teachers from around the world and by Sudanese teachers. By the time the school is transferred to the Sudanese in 2012, enough Sudanese teachers will be in place to continue to teach and graduate 40-50 students each year.

Give

Your partnership will make this vision possible. The students will pay tuition and fees, which will eventually sustain the school. Your financial gifts will cover the reconstruction of the buildings, furnishings for the classrooms, library books and initial operating costs.

• $50 can buy a desk
• $100 can buy library books
• $500 can buy a computer
• $50,851 will build a cable bridge to cross the Yabus river in flood
• $7,000 will buy an ATV for year-round transportation

Thank you for investing in the future of Sudan!

Pray

Please pray for this ministry. Write to rebuildsudan@simsudan.org to receive regular prayer updates for this and the other Rebuilding Southern Sudan projects.

Above photo by Claire Coburn Inoue.