Refugees returning to southern Sudan will be eligible for vocational training programs thanks to a multi-year partnership between Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) and the Diocese of Lainya in the Episcopal Church of the Sudan.
 
Bishop Peter Amidi recently welcomed a delegation of U.S. Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans who toured the Diocese of Lainya’s former educational complex which was destroyed during the decades-long civil war that officially ended with the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.
 
Bishop Amidi has proposed using the remaining educational structures as the foundation of a new center to train refugees returning from camps in Kenya and Uganda. To date, 423 people have registered as prospective trainees, and many of those have volunteered to help with the rebuilding project. Some have already begun to clear vegetation and other debris from the abandoned site.
 
“Life is starting again from absolutely nothing,” said Janette O’Neill, ERD’s director for Africa programs. “The whole area was thrown away during the war. To put up the infrastructure of buildings, particularly schools and offices, is a huge challenge but is essential for the future stability of this region.”
 
Episcopal News Service contributed to this report.
 
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