“I want to build my mother a house”

The playground of the Peace Nursery and Primary School is a busy place. There is loud laughter, and children in neat school uniforms run in every direction. Here we meet Achol Bol Mabior, mother of 15-year-old graduate Akech. She fled with her children when the war at home in South Sudan became too dangerous for them. For mother and son alike, Akech’s chance to go to school feels almost like a dream come true. “I want my children to get an education – because I never had that chance! I hope they can learn and support their brothers and sisters,” she says. “I used to work a lot. But now I have less strength and can only see with one eye. I want to start sewing clothes and save a little every day, so that this boy can carry on going to school.”

And the young graduate standing beside his mother knows that education is the key to a better future. “I want to become an engineer. When I see people working with electricity, I admire them. It makes me want to do the same,” he says. “If I study, I can support my family. I want to build my mother a house and help her bring up my other brothers and sisters.”

The key to peace In December 2013 civil war broke out in South Sudan – only two years after the country’s independence. The conflict quickly became a brutal war marked by ethnic violence and led to a major humanitarian crisis. Thousands of families fled to neighbouring Uganda, and many children grew up without access to a basic education.

PEACE International has responded to this urgent need. Its mission is to promote peace by offering hope through education, leadership training and support for women. Today more than 850 pupils from nursery to Year 7 receive education, trauma care and two meals a day at the school it runs.

“Education is the key to shaping the lives of refugees,” says Rosemary Khamati, founder of PEACE International, who was flown in for the graduation ceremony. “They will sit down at a table and discuss issues instead of being drawn into physical wars. Education brings change and creates peace, because our teaching is based on Christian values.”

Flying for the future MAF has been an important partner of PEACE International for several years – among other things by flying in school materials for pupils and leaders. MAF has also transported partners so that teachers, women and pastors could be offered trauma care and peacebuilding.

Ruth Jack, MAF Country Director in Uganda, describes what refugee camps mean to her. “That is where the best and the worst of humanity meet. People who have lost hope are cared for by those who give their lives to bring hope,” she says. “Our partners have made it very clear how important our flights are to them: their work becomes considerably easier and more efficient.”