Building for the future
With education as the focus of BMISS, brick and mortar school are literally the foundation from which we grow. Schools create a sense of community and a place for engagement and empowerment. What started with one school has quickly blossomed into many.
Ajong Primary School
Ajong Primary School was the first school built by Building Minds in South Sudan. There were 240 boys attending “under tree” school when construction began. Two years later when the school was completed, there were 959 boys and girls attending. Before Sebastian insisted girls be allowed to attend school, no girl or woman was allowed to be educated in Mayen-Abun. That is real impact! To this day Ajong is the largest primary school in all of South Sudan.
Majok-Keen Girls School
Majok-Keen All Girls School was the next school built by BMISS at the request of parents who wanted their daughters to attend a girls-only school. Today 813 girls attend Majok-Keen, and it is the only public girls primary school in South Sudan.
A female principal, hired thanks to a gift from the Bill Cook Foundation is the only female principal of a public school in the country. All of the school’s teachers are female.
Bill Cook High School
Before this high school was built, there was no education for students beyond the 8th grade, except for a book they received from BMISS to keep them academically connected. The school is named in honor of Bill Cook whose foundation was the prime donor. Girls attend class in the morning and boys attend in the afternoon. There are 113 students now enrolled.
Laima and King Beck High School for Girls
Recently, three donors came forward, offering to fund the four classrooms for a girls-only high school. These classrooms will be completed in 2022 after a formal ground breaking ceremony with Sebastian and all the village and state dignitaries.
Laima and King Beck have contributed generously to the educational, agricultural and entrepreneurial initiatives in the village. This girls high school has been named in their honor.