JOIN HANDS ORPHANAGE SCHOOL PALWAR SOUTH SUDAN
"TOGETHER WE CAN MOVE FORWARD AND CHANGE LIVES"
JOIN HANDS ORPHAN SCHOOL
South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan in July 2011. It was our hope that many South Sudanese returning home from neighbouring countries would have a better life.
In 2017, Patrick Locaa of Great Mercy Christian Church in Brisbane, went to visit the refugee camp.
His presence and testimony of what he saw in the refugee camp has united the community back home and from afar to help this disadvantaged group in Palwar, South Sudan.
Since the birth of South Sudan, Patrick has seen communities face a lot of social and economic and health issues especially in rural and deserted region in Palwar where vast majority rely merely on their own strength to look for whatever means to just to survive.
The most common problems as outlined below are education, food shortages, inadequate hospital and medical supplies, early child marriage in attempt to generate incomes from dowry especially, crime and disorder against women and high death rates at childbirth.
The community elders, local leaders, the community and Patrick has engaged in discussion on the critical issues faced by the community, and these are the followings:
CRITICAL ISSUES IDENTIFIED IN PALWAR, SOUTH SUDAN.
- Lack of education and high poverty
- No building premises for worship
- Large number of orphanages and unaccompanied children
- Domestic violence and sexual assault
- Increased number of rapes and violence against women
- Early marriages among young children and high death rates during childbirth
- Limited Hospital care and lack of trained Nurses
- High rate of crimes and fear of death
- Lack of support
JOINS HANDS VISITATION BY PATRICK LOCAA
Patrick returned to South Sudan in a deserted community in Palwar to discuss about the agendas for the Join Hands project.
Upon his arrival, he saw many poor children without parents, malnourished, sick, without clothes and without accommodation.
This brought Patrick to tears bringing back memories of how his own childhood was. Like these homeless children, Patrick lost his parents when he was three years old and had to beg for daily survival with not always being lucky.
Sometimes Patrick would go without food for six straight days.
Without food, accommodation, clean water, extreme cold weather during rainy season, without cover, only relying on torn and dirty clothes, malnourished, and without strength, Patrick was exposed to frequent diseases.
Many homeless children did not make it alive. It is God who spared and raised Patrick throughout his childhood on the street until the age of five after discovered by his grandmother.
Seeing what these children go through has prompted Patrick to do more to secure their lives. It is in his continuous prayer that they may have a better future and help homeless children globally.
Objectives:
- To change Orphans and unaccompanied children life through education
- To reach out to local communities with the word of God and bring salvation to the nation
- To support the widows through education
- To provide local communities with independence
- To expand schools and churches in remote areas
- To make orphans and unaccompanied children have a better life and better future
- To reduce poverty and hunger
- To reduce crimes in local communities
- To alleviate domestic violence against women and reduce boredom attributing to crime disorder in the communities
- To prevent early marriages and death at childbirth
Geographic Locations of Join Hands
Join hands is a Christian college committed to inspiring the young generation including children from non-Christian background to see the glory, power of God, through love, compassion, and mercy.
Joins Hands is committed in taking care of unprivileged and outcast children without parents to receive basic human needs and support to secure their lives, future, and eternity.
Currently, Join Hands orphanage school is based in a small village of Palwar in South Sudan, East Equatoria with close proximate border between South Sudan and Northern Uganda.
The location is safe for children, has good weather, plenty of food, and the land is good for agricultural use.
JOIN HANDS PROJECT PROCREATION
Join Hands emerged from a micro group of people who banded together, contributing small donations involving money, clothes, food, books, pen and accommodating disadvantaged people.
The school Join Hands is open mainly for:
Orphans, Street Kids, Disabilities children, poor families and to empower girls.