Canaan Group of Companies on Friday handed over a completed secondary school to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which will host about 400 children from the refugee and host community in Gorom.
Kuyok Abol Kuyok, the Undersecretary in the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, praised the in-kind support provided by the Managing Director of Canaan Group of Companies, Bereket Goitom towards uplifting the lives of refugees and the host community in Gorom.
“There are so many national and foreign business people in this country,” who have not thought to do something like this. You have built a school and this school will educate many people from the host community and the refugee community,” said Kuyok during the handover ceremony.
He said that some of the students who will pass through this school will become doctors, engineers, and leaders of this country and their home countries.
“We need to find the missing bits so that we can complete the school, and make it ready by February, a school of course is not only the buildings but the main element of the school is teachers, so I stand here to commit myself and the ministry that we will work together with UNHCR to do the things that are missing,” said Kuyok.
Gloria Nyaki, UNHCR Assistant Representative (Protection), said the new secondary school upon opening will save many refugee children and those of the host community from trekking long distances to study.
This is the first secondary school in Gorom as the area has only a single primary school.
“It’s an initiative that contributes to building peaceful coexistence between the refugees and the host community, and also contributes to alleviating the suffering of the refugees to address the education gap,” said Nyaki.
Gorom refugee camp currently hosts more than 14,000 refugees with the majority of Sudanese nations who fled fighting since April 2023.
Raga Gabriel, Executive Director of the Commission for Refugee Affairs, said the construction of the school comes at a critical time when they expect more arrivals of refugees especially from neighboring Sudan.
She said the school is part of interventions made by the government and partners to improve the well-being of refugees in the country.
Bereket Goitom, a former refugee who currently Manages the Canaan Group of Companies said the construction of the school was motivated by his background, adding that his Group remains committed to transforming the lives of vulnerable communities such as refugees.
“When we saw that the refugees and the host community here have only elementary school, and they had to travel to Juba and other places, we decided together with UNHCR to come up with this project and we have reached this stage, we will continue enhancing this project so that everybody can come in and other parties which need to support,” said Goitom.
He noted that the refugees in Gorom will in the future be of great benefit to the community and society.
