Over 20,000 girls to benefit from GESS program in Eastern Equatoria

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The focal person for GESS program in Eastern Equatoria State, says twenty six thousand six hundred and one girls, are entitled to get the cash transfer.

The GESS funded by UK aid in partnership with the Government of Canada, is to support education for girls in South Sudan, Radio Emmanuel reports.

GESS Program Team leader, Muroga James Adris, says the cash transfer is for buying scholastic materials.

“In the entire state in Eastern Equatoria so far we have twenty six thousands six hundreds and one eligible girls to be paid and the payment is still ongoing, the purpose of these money is entirely for school needs of the girl who receive the money, but the story of chain that we gathered indicated that some were able to gather food in the house and that is also what we also encourage, their counterparts the boys, they also benefit from these girls indirectly, if a girl by may be a textbook, they also share the same text book with their brothers at home, some of the girls they even bought a goats it becomes a kind income generating activity a kind of small startup business, so the use of the money is both for the academic needs”.

James urges school girls to use the money for the intended purpose for their academic future.

“I want the parents to let the girls to come to school, we are ending the year and soon we are going to Christmas, we want to make sure the girls who receive the money to use this money very well, it should not go as Christmas gift to the girls, am urging them to be spending it for the intended purpose that will set their academic future. We know what had happened in Eastern Equatoria, due to the conflict of 2013 and 2016, many schools have closed down but now re-opening, so they need to be actually supporting the schools to make sure that the schools stands, the founders of the schools are the parents themselves by collecting the local resources to make sure that the schools stand”.

Beneficiary, Emmanuella Florencio is a senior two pupil at Fr Saturlino Secondary School.

She says the program will help girls remain in school, as most of them dropout due to lack of financial support.

“I am going to use the money to buy scholastic materials that are missing, like books when some are missing, a bag or a shoe I will use to buy them, the money is not given for you to go and buy with things that are not related to school but only for scholastic materials. This support is for school so that girls do not drop out of school, like the five thousand cannot buy many things, but only support some of the parts. They should continue with the support not to end it so that girls do not drop out of schools, some of them are now getting pregnant because they don’t have parents who can support them from home”.

Another beneficiary Christine Idwar says with the GESS support, it will encourage more girls to go back to school.

“My message to the rest of the girls is to encourage them to come to school so that, so that some of us are now getting money to help us in so many things, because some girls are fearing coming to school because they do not have payment to their school, they don’t have shoes, sometimes you will be send from school because of shoes, because of socks, because of so many things, so am going to use this for [some of] these things, sometimes we will be send from school we are going to stay home, but now since the come now, we are able to come to the school”.

In Eastern Equatoria State, GESS program is implemented by ADRA-South Sudan.

This year, lower classes receive 5600ssp, while candidates receive 8400 since they have a lot of demands as they prepare for their final examination.