Manute Bol:  School in Turalei and Education for Teachers

                                "The key to peace is education."  __Manute Bol

Much has been said and written about Manute Bol who passed away June 19, 2010, and most of the focus was on his fabulous nine-year career as the tallest person to ever play in the NBA.  But there was a much deeper side to the seven-foot-seven native of Sudan.  Although he resided with his family  in Olathe, Kansas, he still called the village of Turalei in Southern Sudan his home.

Manute often traveled back to Sudan and spent much time promoting peace, especially in Darfur, and helping friends and family as much as he could before his untimely death at the age of 47.  His last trip to Sudan was extended when the government asked him to stay and promote a corruption-free election process.  Already not feeling well and separated from his medications, he became seriously ill before he returned to the States.  Ultimately, he succumbed to a combination of kidney failure and Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

An un-educated young man when he came to the US to attend school and play basketball in 1983, Manute   came to place a high value on education.  He firmly believed that one of the important keys to peace in Sudan is education for its children which includes learning English.

Manute made a promise to his community to build a school

During his trip to his village in January and February 2008, he made a promise to the people that he would
help raise funds to build a school in the village. There are more than 300 students and 20 teachers in the
school near his neighborhood but no schoolhouse. They had been teaching and learning under a tree, and when it rained—as it often does during the rainy season that lasts from May through October, there was no school.



The first building with classrooms and two sanitary facilities were completed at the primary school in Turalei in January 2010.  The second building with three additional classrooms is not complete and lacks a roof because of inadequate funding.  The roof will be completed soon, thanks to a recent donation. An additional $150,000 is needed to finish the school. Once completed, the World Food Programme will provide one meal daily to the children at the school.



                        For many students, school is conducted outside beneath the trees–unless it rains. 
                                          

Manute worked to keep his promise

In January 2009, Manute delivered one compressed earth block press to Turalei and brought a team of Ugandan trainers to teach the brick-making technique.  Manute's school will be a sign of reconciliation for all Sudan as it will welcome both Darfurian and Southern Sudanese children.  View plans for the school.

We still need to raise funds in order to finish construction of the remaining two classrooms, an office, multipurpose building, kitchen, storage and water system.  Franklin Electric, the world's largest pump manufacturer has announced a fantastic donation for the school.  They will drill a well for the school and later install a submersible and a water tower so the 400 children at the school will have continual, clean supply of drinking water!  Currently, the children have the arduous task of carrying water to the school in plastic jugs.  In the photo at the left, Manute Bol shakes hands with Attie Jonker of Franklin Electric.


Why Sudan?

South Sudan is the most underdeveloped region of the world today.  Ravaged by prolonged civil wars, Sudan
has the largest internally displaced population in the world, mostly from Southern Sudan.  The last two decades of war killed 2.5 million people and displaced almost 5 million.  The current war in the western region of Darfur has killed 200,000 and displaced another 2 million.  Eighty-five percent of the population in South Sudan is illiterate.  Only about seven percent of teachers in the south have any professional training, and it is not uncommon to visit a school where the teachers themselves have not been educated beyond fourth grade. 
Some 1.5 million children who should be in school are not, due to lack of schools.

Three generations of Southern Sudanese didn't have an opportunity for a proper education.  Fewer than one percent of girls complete primary school. The majority of schools that do exist consist of a chalkboard under
a tree.  Few materials are available.  Returning refugees never had the chance to learn the traditions to carry
on their families' livelihoods—a wealth of knowledge was lost with those who died, and many families
experienced separation and/or displacement.

Unless urgent measures are taken to breathe life into the education sector, the future is bleak. 
The single most valuable thing we may be able to give to the people of South Sudan is education.


Help us complete construction at this school in Turalei as a tribute to Manute's dream to bring education to his home village!