Our primary school is now 15 years old. What began as a small school with 40 pupils under a tree is now a complex school campus with around 1,200 pupils. We would like to share this success with you and will be posting stories from the primary school here over the coming months. Stay tuned.

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My name is Gabriel Machiek Malok. I just started studying Clinical Medicine in Nairobi, Kenya. I come from Rumbek, South Sudan. I grew up in an extended middle-class family. My father has two wives and altogether he has 17 children.

I started my primary school at Adol Primary School, Rumbek. It’s a government school, close to my home. However, I was disappointed. I didn’t learn much, especially how to speak English. I knew a man who was a teacher in Loreto Primary School. He seemed really educated and could speak English well, so I asked my parents if I could go to his school. They allowed it, and I completed my education in Loreto Primary School. There were a lot of struggles. The school was 12km away from my home. Sometimes I could go by bicycle, but when it rained while I was in school, the way home was really difficult to travel.

Another problem was my parents had goats and sheep, and it was my duty to graze them. There was no one else at this time who could do this. I could not graze the animals and attend school at the same time. So, I asked a friend to help me. We were typically sent out together, each one with the animals of his family. I left our animals with him and ran to school and ran back after the lessons to look after them. It was really challenging, but I tried, and with the help of God, I finally completed primary school.

I always encouraged myself not to give up, regardless of the challenges I was facing. There is a quote that motivated me, which says: “Nobody knows what the future holds for you.” I learned a lot from that quote and the challenges I found in primary school. I learned to be hardworking, patient, and faithful to God, since God knows all the plans he has for me. In Loreto, I learned that I could pray to God not only in difficulties, but also when I experience some positive changes.

I also learnt to respect everyone regardless of gender and culture, since there is no discrimination in the Loreto School. In my old school, everyone focused on girls. In my family, only the boys were allowed to go to school. In Loreto, everyone has the same chances, and everyone is treated equally. That really touched me. Here, girls can play football and work in maintenance and boys are taught in arts. When we go for the annual diocesan peace pilgrimage, for example, the boys cook and girls load the truck; everything is done together.

However, I realised, as an educated boy, I need to be an ambassador for girl-child education. Slowly, I will make sure that my sisters can go to school. In our culture, the common belief is, girls cannot go to school because they have to do all the duties at home. Girls are seen as a source of wealth. They get married at a young age, and the family gets a large number of cows for her. When girls go to school, then the marriage will be delayed, and they will not bring so many cows.

“I asked myself one day, how will I help others with this quality education that I received in Loreto Primary school?”

I was inspired by the Loreto Sisters and teachers, who left their countries and hometowns to come and give quality education to the young people in South Sudan. I asked myself one day, how will I help others with this quality education that I received in Loreto Primary school? I got the answer to the question that I should continue to finish secondary school, and with the help of God, I would go to university and study medicine to save the lives of the needy.

And it happened. I was able to join La Salle Boys Secondary School and complete my secondary education. I managed to secure one of the few internship places for boys in Loreto and could gain a lot of practical professional experience. I worked in the clinic, in the primary school and in the school farm. As an intern, you are closely supervised, so I could learn a lot about professional behaviour and gain lots of new skills. At the end, I received a scholarship to a university in Kenya. Now, I’m studying Clinical Medicine. It’s still a long way to go, but it seems my dream is coming true, and I can help to make the world, and especially South Sudan, a better place.

I want to thank all those who helped to make this possible.