It says a lot about a country when it becomes independent and
is welcomed into the world community as its newest nation then, within a year, aid and volunteer agencies are fleeing the
country due to an outbreak of factionalised violence as they are unable to guarantee the safety of their staff or volunteers. And that violence continues. The largely
Christian South Sudan broke from what it saw as its
oppressive Muslim neighbour, Sudan, and it looked for a
while that it would be joining a democratic community of
nations. It was not to be as those seeking power in the
new country disregarded the impact that struggle would
have on its own people who had for so
long sought to shake off oppression from the north only
to have it reimposed by their own in the south together
with violence, displacement and crime.
It's a bleak
situation. Totally reliant on oil production and exports to survive, not only do these exports have to be transported through the hostile north on the agreement of Sudan, they are likely to be depleted within the next 30-0 years; only 4% of South Sudan is arable however 85% of the population are reliant upon it for subsistence farming and teachers in South Sudan have fled seeking employment elsewhere leaving the education system in disarray. Add to that
outbreaks of disease such as cholera and the full bleakness
of the situation becomes apparent. It will
therefore come as no surprise that, despite only being ranked in 185th place out of 189 countries and
territories in 2019 in terms of life expectancy,
literacy, access to knowledge and the living standards, at present the
opportunity to volunteer in South Sudan is pretty much
limited to the Red Cross who stay after others have
left.
Volunteer Work South Sudan: Red Cross
Volunteer Work South Sudan: Partners in Compassionate Care
Volunteer Work South Sudan: Boma Project
Volunteer Work South Sudan: Seeds of Wisdom
Please note that many volunteer opportunities in South Sudan were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the permanent closure of some volunteer opportunities and restrictions on others. Hopefully things are now beginning to return to normal. If you run or
know of a volunteer work project in South Sudan let us know by
contacting us here. We look forward
to hearing from you!
Red Cross continue to undertake humanitarian work in a country ravaged by conflict and disease.
Partners in Compassionate Care
run faith based medical volunteer work and health projects in South Sudan.
Faith based volunteer work teaching
children and staff or building a school at Boma in South Sudan.
Volunteer work in South Sudan in the fields of construction, health
and/or education.
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