Newsletter June 2025
Since we sent out our last newsletter three months ago, the board of Foundation Education East Africa (OOA) has been expanded. The new board has also made some decisions regarding the aid we are able to provide to the three self-help schools we support and to the people in the surrounding areas, thanks to our monthly donors and one-off donations.
In Sudan, the army has succeeded in driving out militiamen from the Rapid Support Forces from the entire state of Khartoum, including Omdurman. Salwa in Jabarona has survived the fighting and is now planning to reopen her nursery. In Elsawra district 43, 200 families still receive a daily meal from the soup kitchen we support. About 55 families of pupils from the Elrayan School receive a monthly food parcel, and 50 other families in the neighbourhood and in neighbouring Ombadda receive a small monthly amount from the Foundation to support them in their most basic needs.
A grandmother with her grandchildren (parents deceased) who receives financial support
Change in OOA management
In April Marijke Wessel, co-founder (in August 2010) and secretary of the Foundation ever since, stepped down. She is now over 80 and felt it was better to pass the baton to a younger board member. We would like to thank Marijke once again for the many years of dedication to the Foundation!
Marjan van der Horst, logistician and OOA volunteer since April last year, is the new secretary. She knows Sudan well, having lived and worked there for about six years. She and treasurer Rianne Tamis were even neighbours for a while in Khartoum. Other new board members are Elseline Tuinier, who joined in August last year, and Nadim Elhelw, the youngest member. Elseline also worked in Sudan for six years and still has ties to the region, working as programme manager at the Red Cross organisation. Nadim, who is half Dutch and half Egyptian, joined the board in January this year and, together with Rianne, is responsible for communication with Sudan and the accounts. Djûke Poppinga, co-founder of the Foundation, remains chair.
Thanks to the many donations, the WhyDonate crowdfunding campaigns, and successful fundraising efforts – not only by the new board members, but also by third parties – the Foundation has managed to raise enough money to continue providing food aid until the end of this year. In addition, Marjan has managed to overcome the bureaucratic application procedures of The Blackbaud Giving Fund. Her employer, Zimmer Biomet, doubles donations of at least €100 to the Foundation through this organisation, with a maximum of $7,200 per year. In this way, we have managed to raise a good extra amount since the end of 2024.
Marjan has also found a foundation that is making funds available for the construction of classrooms, etc. She and Elseline have sent an initial questionnaire to the management of the Elrayan School for its primary and intermediate school, in order to gain insight into what is needed. We will certainly come back to this.
The Sudanese government, which is still based in Port Sudan, has decided that the new school year will start in July. How this will work in practice is a big question. Because not only houses but also school buildings have been plundered. In addition to household goods, iron doors and windows (because wood has since long been unaffordable) and zinc roofs have been stolen by militiamen and gangs of thieves. Other schools, including the Elrayan School, have taken in displaced people, with the positive side effect that the buildings have been spared from looting.
The management of the Elrayan School and Salwa Abdelrahman, founder and leader of Shirad Nursery, are now assessing what they need at a minimum to be able to start. The Eisa Mahanna School for children with disabilities in Elgezira Aba, about 300 kilometres south of Khartoum, was able to re-open its doors in January. The Foundation immediately resumed its support for this small school, by providing transport for the pupils and a small contribution for the volunteers.
‘Better no vegetables’
In Omdurman, residents have suffered from many diseases, including cholera. After the army largely drove the Rapid Support Forces out of the capital in May, the militia took revenge by bombing power stations with drones. This knocked out water installations, forcing people to fetch contaminated water from the Nile. This led to an acute cholera epidemic that spread rapidly, claiming hundreds of victims in Omdurman alone. Fortunately, international organisations intervened quickly, and many people have now been vaccinated against cholera.
The soup kitchen in May: cutting purslane, thick pumpkin soup – and the water tank
The soup kitchen was closed for a few days in May due to the lack of water, but when the management of Elrayan, which organises the soup kitchen, was able to purchase a second-hand water tank, cooking could resume. The water came from a spring. To reduce the risk of disease, the management decided not to purchase vegetables for the kitchen in June.
Unfortunately, the humanitarian situation is still dire because people have run out of money, the prices of food are soaring, and there is hardly any work. The Foundation received a request to extend direct financial aid to the neighbouring district of Ombadda, but we have decided to stick to OOA’s core objective: supporting education for children in poor, disadvantaged areas. The start of the new school year means additional monthly expenses, and although OOA has been able to organise food aid since April last year -thanks to the many donations-, we must be cautious. For the Elrayan primary and intermediate school and Salwa’s childcare centre, we want to offer the pupils breakfast again, in addition to simple allowances for teachers and teaching materials. This of course also involves the necessary costs.
Once the schools have started again, we will send you another newsletter.
Warm regards, Djûke, Marjan, Elseline, Nadim, and Rianne
Amsterdam, 29 June 2025
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