2.2 million people who have perished as the direct result of a campaign of genocide against South Sudan’s Christian and non -Muslim population- a death toll greater than all the victims in Bosnia, Kosovo and Rwanda combined. That is why in 1998 we established the Sudan Relief Fund for the purpose of bringing food, clothing, shelter and medical attention to the people of South Sudan. Since then, wi
th the prayers and financial support of generous people around the world, we have made very real progress under the most difficult circumstances imaginable. At the height of the war we dug bore wells wherever and whenever we were able. Today, we’re digging more wells and creating healthful, more permanent sources of life-giving water for the people. We’re bringing much-needed health care to a region that until a few years ago had not known medical care of any kind. We have built a full-scale, 80-bed hospital. We’re moving beyond our first makeshift schools to the development of the first full-fledged educational system ever in the area. We’re graduating students from our primary schools in ever-greater numbers. And we’re building classrooms and purchasing benches, desks, books and school supplies for the growing numbers of secondary school students in the region. We’re building basic housing for teachers, so that they will have clean and safe places to live. We have made great progress under the most difficult circumstances – but much work remains to be done.
