These photographs are of Pomuju Primary School in Kajo-Keji, Sudan. The Diocese of Bethlehem (in the State of Pennsylvania) and the Diocese of Kajo-Keji (in the Episcopal Church of the Sudan) share a companion relationship. Dioceses that have companion relationships commit to pray for one another, learn about one another, and share physical and spiritual resources. It is a way that we recognize that our mission is not for ourselves only, but for our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.
The Sudan is a country in the northeast part of Africa. Click here to see a map of Africa. Living in the Sudan is very different from living in the United States. An average family member earns about $1.50 a day in the Sudan, hardly enough to have enough to survive, compared to about $115 a day in the United States. Most Sudanese earn their living as farmers, even though only about 6 percent of their land can be farmed. They don't have the machinery, fertilizer and irrigation systems that we have in the United States. This means whether they have enough to eat or sell in the market depends a lot on the weather. In 2004, there was a drought and many Sudanese were starving to death. Americans don't depend so much on farming for their income. Only about 2 percent of Americans work as farmers. Most Americans buy their food in grocery stores. Most Americans also don't have worry about when they will eat their next meal.
The Sudanese have also been suffering from civil war. The Muslim Sudanese in the North and the Christian and Animist Sudanese in the South have been fighting one another for more than 50 years. Hundreds of thousands of people have died and thousands more live away from their land in refugee camps. To live in the Sudan means living in fear of death from starvation and war.
But they have hope. The Sudanese signed a peace agreement in 2005 and theyare looking forward to a New Sudan. Even though much of Kajo-Keji has been destroyed, the Sudanese have built temporary buildings and are beginning to rebuild permanent ones. This photograph is a school built with mud and a thatched straw roof. Even though there is no electricity, no plumbing and no furniture, the children are eager to learn while sitting on the mud floor. Even though many Sudanese grow only enough to feed their families, they are working hard to make goods that they can sell in the market to earn money. They'll use that money to improve the soil with fertilizer, buy farm equipment, and perhaps invest in making other products to sell.
Through prayer, visits and financial support the Diocese of Bethlehem is committed to standing with their brothers and sisters in Kajo-Keji as they rebuild their country and their lives. Parishes have adopted schools and the Episcopal Church Women are providing the materials for the women in the Sudan to make beautiful baskets, jewelry, and clothing which they send back to the United States to sell.
With whom does your diocese have a companion relationship?
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