DCA Sudan
White Nile State in Sudan is marked by mass displacement, cholera outbreaks, strained health services, and the threat of violence. And unsurprisingly these challenges have also made a devastating mark on education. If schooling is available the cost of attending – both private and public schooling – has soared to impossible heights. Families who can barely afford food are faced with a tough choice. Food or school. Eat or learn.
As a result many children have been spending their days on the streets – with no chance of an education and bleak prospects for the future. Until someone got the idea to turn the streets into a classroom.
Seeing the Need, Creating the Classroom
The origin of the ‘Street Classroom’ initiative lay in a simple yet profound observation by members of local mutual aid groups: if the children roaming the streets of White Nile State cannot find a classroom – the classroom must come to them.
A group of compassionate university graduates who had studied drama set out to convert the street – a place of displacement – into a stage for learning. A classroom with a high ceiling.
Their initial outreach was simple. They used paper and colours to attract the children – and what they saw inspired them to continue; in almost all children there was a spark, a desire to learn. And from there they could also draw in the children’s families.
The unique approach was not just about basic literacy; it was about alternative education and mental health and psychosocial support for children.
From Initiative to Institution: Support and Scale
The dedication and passion that emanated from the initiative dedication caught the eye of an NGO preparing to establish in the area – and this soon led to formal support from the Sudan Humanitarian Fund which allowed the initiative to scale its operations.
What began with 60 children quickly blossomed into a safe and educational haven for nearly 200 children, ranging in age from 8 to 13.
More than just classrooms
The Street Classroom provided more than just lessons; it supplied the infrastructure of learning: books, chairs, mats, colouring books, and educational toys. The children also received simple meals like cake and juice, offering a moment of nourishment and normalcy.
The Street Classroom enabled them to learn to read and write the alphabet, add and subtract numbers, and use multiplication tables. The children were also taught to hold a pen and develop their fundamental writing skills.
Children’s art as messages for peace
A powerful testament to the initiative’s impact was the art gallery created from the children’s drawings. Their artwork was not merely decorative; it was a canvas for deep, expressive messages. Their pictures conveyed a profound desire to become important members of society, and a heartfelt appeal for wars to end and peace to prevail.
The Street Classroom also became a frame for solidarity by networking with key government counterparts, notably the Ministry of Education (Alternative Education). This bond ensured sustainability, with the Ministry stepping in to provide an alternative curriculum, including books, notebooks, educational games, and teaching aids.
An idea that shapes safe spaces – and brings hope
With support by the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, the Street Classroom has evolved. It now also incorporates alternative educational options like speaking games in both Arabic and English, and physical activities like football and tennis.
What began as an idea shaped by a simple observation has transformed the street into a safe space and a vibrant educational platform for hundreds of children in White Nile State; the Street Classroom.
The initiative is a living lesson in community resilience, proving that with dedicated mutual aid and critical funding, hope and education can flourish even in the most challenging of environments.
About the support for local responses in Sudan
The Street Classroom is one of several initiatives supported by DanChurchAid with funding from the Sudan Humanitarian Fund. The overall aim is to support local responses in the states of White Nile, Gazira, and Sennar to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people.
The international humanitarian response is severely restricted in these areas and the ability by larger actors to provide lifesaving support is therefore very limited.
Instead, amid catastrophic needs and an absent or overstretched professional aid system, local mutual aid efforts have emerged as the most critical source of assistance for those affected by the conflict. The mutual aid groups rely on voluntary, spontaneous, locally led responses, driven by crowdsourced information and sporadic international funding or crowdfunding.
These mutual aid groups maximize available resources, using real-time, on-the-ground analysis to translate their unique knowledge into effective assistance for those affected – such as the Street Classroom.
DanChurchAid works with the Sudanese NGO Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO) who supports some 130 mutual aid groups with capacity-strengthening and funding. This enables the groups to sustain their work in assisting themselves, their neighbours, and the surrounding communities.