Abukloi Foundation’s mission is to collaborate with the people of Rumbek to help them build their lives through education, community development, and gender equity. All programs are developed in partnership with the school’s administrators, the U.S. board, and local leaders and councils in the community and payams (local administrators) of Rumbek. It is vital that local perspectives direct programs so we respond to real — not just outwardly perceived — needs.
Abukloi combats food and economic insecurity by empowering the local population to create opportunities. Business development training shows students that they can create their own economy, generating demand for goods and services that others will be inspired to provide.
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All these skills expand creativity, develop problem-solving techniques, and build pathways to success for South Sudan. Students learn alternative ways to respond to conflicting ideas in a country where intercultural conflicts are often addressed with violence.
We actively seek women teachers. Our female teachers play an outsized leadership role on campus. They lead training courses to teach students how to manage small businesses. We rely on our women teachers to design new programs to meet our students’ needs.
They engage students in cultural experiences and creative projects through dance and theater, and they encourage our female students to express both the joys and heartaches of their lives through song and poetry.
Young women are expected to take on leadership roles as head girls and prefects. They participate in clubs and school-led businesses. Often, the girls’ teams are champions of interscholastic sports and debate. Each year, thirty percent of our graduates are female. Our top female students are offered scholarships to universities.
Students need access to practical instruction that can be implemented in fields that will foster South Sudan’s development. Therefore, practical learning experiences must be introduced at the earliest educational levels.
As more and more youth graduate from secondary institutions, no employment opportunities are available for them. Youth are left with little hope and often fall victim to the effects of poverty. Experiential Learning offers new possibilities for providing youth with valuable experiences connected with emerging innovations and also opportunities to address challenges created by climate change, economic failures, and chronic health issues.
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Environmental stability is a pillar of Abukloi’s future growth. Building plans, infrastructure expansion, ground maintenance, and value systems revolve around the idea that everyone is responsible for protecting the Earth.
The school campus is literally an oasis in the community providing green space and food. South Sudan rapidly faces desertification because of human activities like cutting forests for charcoal, timber, and farming. Abukloi’s science education emphasizes humanity’s effect on climate and practical solutions to address it.
Abukloi’s campus is a laboratory of sustainable agriculture and reforestation. The administration addresses local food insecurity by planting fruit trees and allowing neighbors to cultivate open space within the fenced school grounds. Trees provide nutritious food, act as windbreaks, and provide much-needed shade. The gardens provide food while improving soil structure, reducing storm run-off, and lowering ground temperatures. As Abukloi grows, partnerships with other environmental leaders will help make the campus greener and more productive.
Abukloi students apply what they learn to become change agents for peace, equality, and civil rights.
Abukloi students lead their community in conversations about women's and girls' rights, gun laws, and unity between tribes. They use their education to help their families tackle food scarcity and health issues and the women have the courage to continue their education even after childbirth.
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Working with local communities through addressing the underlying causes of conflicts and building meaningful peace. As AF subscribes to the notion that working with local communities on peace is “working with local people in solving national problems”. Organizing regular community dialogues and peace festivals as a means of addressing early signs of conflicts and prevention of conflicts. Extension of psychosocial support to victims of conflicts as a means of facilitating healing and reconciliation.