Girls hold key to future of South Sudan

As South Sudan continues to prepare for independence, Church leaders are encouraging parents to send their children – and especially their girls - to school. Sr. Noelle Corscadden is the Provincial Superior of the Irish Province of the Loreto Sisters.

Speaking to Radio Good News while on a visit to South Sudan, she shared some of her excitement over one of her congregation’s South Sudanese missionary projects: the Loreto Girls’ Boarding Secondary School in Rumbek.

The Loreto School in Rumbek was established in 2007 and will have its pioneer students sitting for their Secondary School Certificate Examination this academic year.

Sr. Corscadden expressed hope that the number of girls at the school will steadily increase to reach 250 students in two to three years. She said that her few days of interaction with the girls at the school revealed that the girls want to be educated, adding that the school aims at educating girls who will contribute back not only to their local community but also to the entire nation of South Sudan.

She encouraged parents to send girls to school because, she said, “The future of the nation lies in hands of women,” explaining that educated girls have the ability to pass on their wisdom and an attitude of acceptance, reconciliation and peace.

Listen to Chris Altieri's report: