Please mark your calendar for the Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan Benefit Dinner on Sunday, September 25 after the 5:00 pm Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Join us for an exciting and informative program. Read more
Pope to send Cardinal Parolin to Congo, South Sudan
June 28, 2022
Pope Francis had been scheduled to visit Kinshasa and Goma, Congo, July 2-5 and to make an ecumenical pilgrimage for peace to Juba, South Sudan, July 5-7. See more from Catholic News Service Article
Seeds of Wisdom update, Schools in Uganda
We are happy to report that schools in Uganda have reopened after a lengthy Covid-19 shutdown, allowing our boarding students to return to class. We are hopeful that conditions will permit our 200 students to re-establish their academic routines. We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who helped to make our recent fundraising drive a success. The response was terrific! Your commitment to this mission is beautiful and truly impacts future generations. The SOW board also would like to acknowledge the generosity of the St. John’s Middle School students, whose Christmas gift donation enabled us to purchase a new outfit for each of our students in Uganda.
Seeds of Wisdom Teachers Advance their own Education with SOW Support
Seeds of Wisdom is proud to share that three of our teachers graduated from the Luigi Giussani Institute of Higher Education with a diploma in primary education. This is an advanced study program focused on bringing Catholic values into teaching. These teachers have worked diligently to further their education so that they can provide the best education for our students. Thank you to these teachers and to all of our teachers for giving our students the opportunity to learn and further their education.
Missed our Live Event? Watch it here!
Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan hosted our first ever virtual Live Event on Sunday, August 23. If you were able to tune in and watch, we are so glad! If not, you can now watch it here or on our Facebook page.
We would like to give a huge thanks to everyone who participated in both the live event and our other activities this summer. From our silent auction donors to the families and teams who walked and ran with us, from those who watched our live event to anyone who included us in their prayers for health and success: we can’t do this without your generosity, and we really appreciate your ongoing support.
If you would like to donate to help fund the various needs of our students, you can do so for the rest of the week on our event page here: https://seedsofwisdom.rallyup.com/fundtheneed
We also are always accepting donations via PayPal on our normal Donate page (click the Paypal Donate button at the bottom, which will walk you through it): https://www.sowsouthsudan.org/donate/
Summer FUNdraiser Live Event
Get your laptops, tablets and smartphones ready! It’s time for the culmination of Seeds of Wisdom’s SUMMER FUNdraiser – our first-ever online live event this Sunday (Aug. 23) at 6 p.m.
The program will give viewers a chance to meet some of our teachers and students in Africa, and to hear about how SOW has made a meaningful difference in the lives of these young people. The event also will include Father Mahon’s comments on the history of SOW from its beginnings in 2011, one last chance to bid on our array of silent auction items and a Fund the Need segment that lets donors see the kinds of items their gifts can provide.
To watch the event, visit https://seedsofwisdom.rallyup.com/fundtheneed.
The SUMMER FUNdraiser began last month with a Run/Walk/Ride event with lots of enthusiastic participants. The top performers will be recognized during the event Sunday. There also has been brisk bidding on our silent auction.
The Board is deeply grateful to all our generous sponsors over the years. Your donations enable us to bring Catholic education to 200 students from Father John Lasuba’s hometown of Pukuka, South Sudan.
The emcee for the event Sunday will be Steve Deick, President of the Board of Seeds of Wisdom. We urge everyone to tune in at 6 p.m. Sunday for the one-hour event.
SOW Summer FUNdraiser
Join us for SUMMER FUN and help us raise the funds needed to continue educating the children of Pukuka, South Sudan. Without a Banquet this year, we are hosting a virtual Walk/Run/Ride in July, then a Silent Auction and Live Event in August.
Our need is for $60,000 to operate school next year. Generous donors have offered matching funds up to $20,000! So have fun, DOUBLE your impact and do good!
Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan continues to educate over 200 children from the Pukuka area. Even though the families are refugees in Uganda right now, we still employ our teachers and staff and hold school classes right in the camps. Fifty of our students will return to boarding schools too, after they re-open!
Walk/Run/Race Event (now through Aug 22):
seedsofwisdom.rallyup.com/summerfundraiser2020
Silent Auction (Aug 13 through Aug 23):
Live soon at seedsofwisdom.rallyup.com
Live Event (Aug 23 at 6:00pm):
The live event will be streamed on August 23, but in the meantime, you are welcome to view our Fund the Need levels here:
https://seedsofwisdom.rallyup.com/fundtheneed
Follow our Facebook page for more updates!
An Update for our Donors and Supporters
Greetings from the Seeds of Wisdom Board, teachers, staff, students and families in Ugandan camps.
We pray you are doing well in this difficult time of COVID-19 and racial unrest. May Jesus be glorified in all these difficult circumstances, and may He fill our hearts with love, compassion and acceptance of one another. We are all in this together!
We want to update you about what is happening with Seeds of Wisdom in the Ugandan camps. Even though the countries are shut down and school is on hold, as we are in the United States, our families are safe and sheltering in place in the camps. There are about 450 reported cases in the whole of Uganda and we have not heard of any cases in our camps yet.
There is some teaching going on through local radio stations, for those who have radios. The government is hopeful that school will resume this summer. Our administrator George Okidi Okot remains in contact with the staff, and they are ready to begin teaching again as soon as they are able.
Financially, Seeds of Wisdom is in a difficult place. The SOW Board wants to be good stewards of your donations and have accordingly put school payments on hold and reduced teacher and staff salaries. But we also feel a responsibility to retain our staff and support basic living needs. This will allow our staff to be in place to restart teaching when we can.
Remaining SOW funds will support one more year of educating our students. We had hoped to hold a fundraising banquet this fall, but that looks unlikely now. We are in the process of creating an exciting online fundraiser – stay tuned for more information about that!
If Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan is a mission close to your heart please reach out and share our story with friends and family to help us grow our circle of support. Follow us on Facebook at Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan to stay up to date.
Please join us in prayer, begging a blessing on all of our families in the US, South Sudan and Ugandan refugee camps:
Blessed Mother, protect our donors, our school staff, students and families, our mission of St John the Evangelist School/Seeds of Wisdom.
Bring us all peace, health and security during this time of coronavirus and unrest in our country.
Mary Mother of God, Pray for Us!
St John the Evangelist, Pray for Us!
St Josephine Bakhita, Pray for Us!
All you Holy men and women, Pray for Us!
Camp and School Videos
View some videos about our refugee camp tutoring program and the students attending boarding schools, all possible thanks to the sponsorship money received from our donors:
Student Story #9 – Debaters
In 2015, Seeds of Wisdom opened a school in Pukuka, South Sudan. Near the end of the 2016 academic year, many families were forced to flee the area due to violence. We located many of our former students and their families in refugee camps in northern Uganda and continue our mission to provide education for the children of Pukuka by sponsoring 46 children into two Catholic boarding schools and by providing tutoring for former students who remain in refugee camps. In spite of many challenges, our students are thriving.
Debate teams are very important in both South Sudan and Uganda. At St. John the Evangelist School in Pukuka, the debate teams met every Friday afternoon and it was considered quite an honor to be selected to be on a team.
The debate teams have continued at St. Kizito school as the students from St. John the Evangelist carry on the tradition of lively debates and discussion. According to our headmaster, George, the students are performing at a very high level in the debates and providing excellent challenges to their fellow Ugandan peers.
Gifts of any size are greatly appreciated and fully tax deductible. Click on the Donate button below for a quick and easy online donation. You can also contact SOW at info@sowsouthsudan.org for more information on how to support these clever debaters and all their fellow students.