How Project Education Sudan Began

In 2001, Carol & Rich Rinehart became one of many mentoring “parents” to over 12 “Lost Boys of Sudan” in Denver, Colorado. It all began with a request for a bicycle, which Carol delivered to the home of Isaac Khor Bher two months after his arrival to the U. S. from Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya. The invitation to deliver a bicycle turned into a life changing commitment to assist the young men by providing nurturing support.

In December 2004 Isaac Khor Bher discovered in an on-line Washington Post article a picture of his deceased father. This happened only one month before the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement allowing Southern Sudan autonomy from the North and to participate in the newly created Unity Government. Carol contacted the photographer and inquired if a copy could be sent to Isaac to hang in his home in memory of his father. The Washington Post sent not only a photo copy of Isaac’s father, but a copy of his mother who was alive! Funds from friends were raised in two weeks to bring Isaac home to Sudan to find his mother. “Mama” Carol and Isaac traveled to Southern Sudan in May 2005 and reunited him with his “found “mother, Mama Yar!

While dodging landmines and being detained for 5 weeks in Sudan from flooding waters, Isaac and Carol were able to meet with the elders and chiefs of his village, Konbek, and the village of Maar. The 20-year war had taken a devastating toll on the land and the people. There were no roads, clean water wells, electricity, latrines, or any type of health care. There was a shortage of food and a multitude of illnesses that weighed heavily on the people. Yet, in spite of all the suffering, their plea for education rang loud and clear. Isaac and Carol returned home to Denver with a mission and a promise to fulfill: to help communities build schools in Southern Sudan. In October 2005 Project Education Sudan was formed. Project Education Sudan is run by an entirely volunteer and dedicated staff of Sudanese and Americans, who work together both in the U. S. and Southern Sudan.