South Sudan
South Sudan is the world’s newest country, having gained independence from Sudan in 2011. Located in Central Africa, the nation is home to the Sudd, one of the world’s largest wetlands, formed by one of the tributaries of the Nile River. During the rainy season, the Sudd can cover up to 15% of the country’s total area. Most of the South Sudanese population earns a living from farming or animal husbandry, and more than 80% of people live in rural areas.
Stories from in South Sudan
“I decided to ask my aunt for guidance. She was very supportive and took me through her life story and how she ended up where she is now. I found so much inspiration from her struggles ... I realized that this pandemic is a temporary obstacle which will go [away] someday.
“My peers were getting married or falling pregnant and not a month would pass without me hearing this. I stayed strong and resisted all temptations by listening to my aunt and keeping busy with housework and joining my aunt in farming. We spent the days weeding and sometimes gathering crops.
“Today, I am back in school. I feel so happy and as if I have pushed a great burden off my back.”
“Before we got help, we were only eating things we could find in the forest. We sometimes didn’t eat and when we did, we only ate once a day. We were eating wild fruits and vegetables. Mangoes from the trees, things like this — tamarind and other fruits.
“But things are better now, and we eat twice a day: morning and evening. ... Since my father started farming, we have been able to eat every day. When we had no food, we felt hungry and grew thin. … I don’t worry about this happening again.
“If my father is working in the garden, then there is no worry. My family has more financial security now, so there is no danger of me being married early. … One of my friends is married. She is 17 years old and has never been to school. She has three children now. She should have gone to school. School is important, because if you go to school, you will be able to have a successful life.”
“If I survive the COVID-19 pandemic without falling pregnant or losing hope, it is due to two things: First of all, I am a leader in my school and secondly, I’m a member of Plan International’s Champions of Change project. So, if I need to do anything, I made sure to recall that first.
“To me, marriage or settling down with a man is not even in my near thoughts, let alone at this time. I have seen the kind of suffering people go through nowadays. My friends who dropped out of school to get married are finding it difficult to even find anything to eat.
“So, really, I feel determined to achieve better things to enable myself to get through the hardship. I am strong and urge every other girl to forget about everything else and concentrate on their books.”
Plan International has been working to improve children’s lives in South Sudan since 2006.
0:03 [on-screen text] Meet Perida, a Plan International-sponsored child from South Sudan, where your sponsored child lives.<br /> 0:06 [on-screen text] We gave her a camera to show us a day in her life.<br /> 0:10 My name is Perida. I’m 14 years old.<br /> 0:13 I live in South Sudan.<br /> 0:15 I have been a sponsored child with Plan International for six years,<br /> 0:19 and the people in front of me are my family members. <br /> 0:21 [all] Thank you!<br /> 0:24 Early in the morning when I wake up,<br /> 0:27 I sweep our ground.<br /> 0:29 Then my sister Faibbe goes to fetch water.<br /> 0:34 This is my house. I am sleeping in it with my sisters.<br /> 0:38 This is our chicken house, and the chickens are inside their house.<br /> 0:46 Every day, I wake up early, get ready and then go to school.<br /> 0:49 On my way to school, there are two small streams I have to cross,<br /> 0:52 and it usually takes me one hour to reach the school.<br /> 0:55 One day I might fall on this overpass.<br /> 0:58 This is our school gate.<br /> 1:01 If I continue to do well in science class,<br /> 1:06 I would like to become a nurse in the future.<br /> 1:14 [on-screen text] Many children die of preventable or treatable diseases. <br /> 1:18 [on-screen text] Each year, 38,900 children don’t live to see their fifth birthday.<br /> 1:23 This is the tomb of my dead brother, who died of malaria.<br /> 1:29 Around 90% of the population do not have adequate sanitation facilities.<br /> 1:34 This is our shallow well, where we fetch our drinking water,<br /> 1:37 but this water is not clean.<br /> 1:40 [on-screen text] Amin Lasuba, Plan International Sponsorship Manager<br /> 1:46 The water is not clean yet.<br /> 1:48 Plan International is working on it, so that you and your community<br /> 1:52 can drink clean water soon.<br /> 1:55 Thank you!<br /> 2:02 My dream would be to build a house for my parents<br /> 2:07 and help my siblings, too.<br /> 2:11 This is my bed and mosquito net.<br /> 2:14 I am very happy to be a sponsored child in the Plan International child sponsorship program.<br /> 2:22 [on-screen text] Over 5,630 children in South Sudan are sponsored by donors just like you, improving entire communities’ access to:<br /> 2:24 [on-screen text] Clean water and sanitation, Health and nutrition, Economic security, Education<br /> 2:30 [on-screen text] Thank you for sponsoring a child from South Sudan. Together, we are changing the lives of many children!
Plan stats in South Sudan
Office & operations
Plan South Sudan’s country office is located in Juba, and we work in the states of Central and Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei and Lakes.
Technical areas
Education, humanitarian response, protection, skills & work
Number of sponsored children
As of June 30, 2020, people like you sponsor 5,630 children in South Sudan through Plan International.
When you sponsor a child through through Plan, you form an incredible friendship.
But that’s just the beginning. With Plan, you also have the unique opportunity to:
Send her birthday gifts and cards.
Give her special holiday presents called Little Treasures.
Subscribe her to Plan’s educational kids’ magazine, Sunny Days.
— Visit her (when travel restrictions are lifted), with individual travel assistance from us.
Each gift offering is safely hand-delivered by us, and given to your child with personalized cards from you. It’s likely that the child you sponsor will have never seen anything like these gifts, and they’re available year-round to make the bond between you and your sponsored child even stronger.
Meet a child to sponsor