“Date of birth given in a queue”

Moses Uliny 

April 2024

This is the story of how a child soldier came to Australia as a refugee, then later returned home to rebuild his new country of South Sudan. It is my story. 

Childhood 

I do not know when exactly, but I was born in a small village called Bartio in Kangi district in what is now South Sudan. In 1994, I was enlisted in the Sudanese People Liberation Army (SPLA) without knowing ABC or 123. I attended primary school under a tree and was taught by army officers. The following years were the worst years of my life. 

Finally, in 1997, I moved into the home of Commander Mark Nyipouch from my tribe in New Cush. At last, I was free from hunger and loneliness. I enrolled in public school with the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Agency.  

In 2001, after grade 5, a captain in the army gave me permission to go to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. My date of birth was given to me by a UNHCR worker when I was in queue during a headcount in Kakuma: 31 December 1984. 

Australia 

I arrived in Australia as a refugee on the 24th of May 2005. I was sponsored by a cousin who used to live in Kakuma. She and her family were resettled to Australia and became citizens.  

When I came to Australia, the law of citizenship was changed to include to a test before being granted citizenship. I sat the test, scored 100 per cent, and attended the citizenship ceremony in Footscray.    

In Australia I attended an English course for six months before enrolling in secondary school at Victoria University, which I finished in 2008. I then went on to study Liberal Arts at Victoria University. 

The Pass Project  

In 2010, I established ‘The Partnership of Australia & South Sudan Education Project’ (The Pass Project), a not-for-profit association to support the establishment of the first secondary school in Kangi district in South Sudan. The following year, the year that South Sudan became independent, I returned to my country of birth for the first time to establish a secondary school in Kangi.  

The PASS New Nation Secondary School  

It took three years to open the school. By 2014 it was established and today it has 8 full time teachers and 80 students. Around Kang District, there 49 primary schools but ours is the only secondary school. Children walk to school for up to an hour. Every year we enrol 35 new students but in June either 15 or 10 do not turn up because of the distance and the rain.   

Establishing the school required overcoming hurdles and solving major problems.  The new school was positioned so that students could reach it from their town or county by foot, textbooks were provided by the government and donated from Australia, and school chairs and desks were shipped in from Australia. Students were no longer expected to study under trees as they now had classrooms built with local materials. 

When the school was running smoothly, I returned to Australia to complete university degrees in Communication and Sociology and fundraise for the school. 

In 2018, I again returned to South Sudan to run my school while coordinating with donors and promoting education in the community. I also taught at the school and met with South Sudanese community leaders and politicians to explain the mission of the school and its benefits to the community. 

Today, I am back in Australia still administering the school and The Pass Project association. I am also applying for postgraduate study to build on my experience as an education professional. I would like to gain the skills and confidence to address educational challenges facing my school system and the organisation as well as the community collaborating with us.  

Education in Kangi 

At present it is exceptionally rare for any student of Kangi to complete secondary school. The Pass Project is changing this, seeking to provide children with the opportunity to continue their education after primary school, allowing access to national exams and therefore university enrolment. Our school is making a real and positive difference in the lives of the people of Kangi. Today, our alumni are students at Juba and Barh El Ghazal Universities. 

I am working with a traditional South Sudanese community, which needs skilful people to stand behind to guide them to solve the educational challenges and in particular encourage girls to study. This will reduce gender inequality, violence, teenage marriage, and give girls the opportunity to have a career, which will benefit both the girls and the community. In ten years, time, everybody can enjoy the opportunities an education can provide.  

Moses Uliny is the founder of the PASS Project and can be contacted at  https://passproject.org/projects  or mosesuliny@gmail.com