August 8, 2024

Saving Lives and Little Girl’s Dreams

When Monica Anthony was just eight years old, her world was turned upside down. After her father died, it seemed that everything in her world was falling apart.

In rural South Sudan, job opportunity for women is dismal. Without a father to provide for the household, a family can be thrust into the trappings of poverty, homelessness, hunger – a frightful downward spiral.

If children get sick, there’s no money for medicine. If the crops don’t grow, there’s no means to purchase food. School tuition is an impossible dream. Children become victims to the cycle of poverty, with no education to provide hope for their future.

Monica was a bright student who enjoyed school. Now it seemed that her dream of graduating was out of reach, her entire future changed.

As Monica’s mother struggled to provide for her children, something happened that felt like a miracle to her family. An organization called Star Support Group (SSG) brought life changing help.

Through the generosity of our donors, Sudan Relief Fund partners with Star Support Group (SSG) to intervene at the root cause of a family’s distress. SSG seeks to provide meaningful solutions for a sustainable long-term future, so people served are empowered to become self-sufficient.

SSG provides skills training to help widows find employment. The organization rescues families from malnourishment with a nutrition program and agricultural assistance, until the family is on their feet. SSG offers microfinance loans to help launch small businesses, along with training in basic finance and management.

What’s more, Star Support Group recognizes how crucial it is for children to go to school to break the cycle of poverty. An important part of their program is providing scholarships for school tuition, to allow at-risk children the vital gift of education.

After Star Support Group came into their lives, everything changed. Monica is in fifth grade now, and her younger sister, Josephine, is in third, because of a scholarship received from Star Support Group for their tuition. 

Monica’s mother works as a tailor, using the training and equipment she received from SSG. Monica’s family even lives in their own house built by Star Support Group so the family wouldn’t be homeless. It turned out to be that miracle it felt like after all.

Monica says, “I want to thank Star Support Group for letting my younger sister and me be in school. And for the support they have given to my mother by enrolling her in tailoring class, and eventually giving her the sewing machine, which she uses to generate a small income for our family’s basic needs.”

Every child should have a roof over their head, enough food to eat, and the chance to go to school to pursue their dreams. Thanks to your support, Monica and her little sister are no longer hungry, homeless, or without hope for their future.

Without the assistance of Star Support Group and your partnership, their life would look very different today.

These stories of Lives Saved are made possible by your support of Sudan Relief Fund. Thank you for transforming lives and bringing hope to dark places.

Would you like to pray for us? Sign up for our email prayer group to receive weekly emails sharing important needs to pray for. You’ll join a faith community around the globe praying to bring hope and help to suffering people in a forgotten part of the world. Click here to find out more.

South Sudan President, Salva Kiir, shared in the nation’s collective pride over their Olympic basketball team, raving in a post on X: “Your impressive performance has inspired many open-minded people across the globe to get to know that South Sudan as a country has more to offer the world.”

Former NBA player, Luol Deng, became president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation in 2019. No stranger to turmoil, his family fled to Egypt during South Sudan’s lengthy and bloody battle for independence. Later they moved to Britain. Deng eventually went on to a successful NBA career.

The South Sudanese basketball franchise has struggled to exist throughout the years, in a war-torn country that has only a single outdoor court made of dirt, with one rim higher than the other, and no official 10-foot regulation goals.

In 2021, Royal Ivey, then the assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets, contacted Deng about working together. He said he was excited about the idea of South Sudanese players putting their differences aside and giving its young men the opportunity to nurture their talent.

“We are blazing a new path for the nation,” Ivey said, who became head coach for the team. “Through sports you can bring a country together, heal, give hope and inspire.” South Sudan is home to more than 64 different tribes and ethnic groups, some with a long history of hostility and conflict.

But many team members expressed feeling a unity through shared past experiences, like living as migrants, enduring financial hardships, language barriers, discrimination and isolation. Many also confided their common aspirations to make it to the NBA.

There was no red carpet route to the Olympics for team South Sudan. Not dissimilar to life in their country, it was a rocky path ridden with training on sweltering outdoor concrete courts, flooded fields, and working around power outages when they traveled all the way to Rwanda to locate the nearest practice gym – some 500 miles away. Overcoming hardship is endemic to the nation’s people.

Ivey mused, “I’ve never been a part of something where you have to travel to a different country just to have some resources. This whole thing has been humbling.”

No one thought they would make it this far.

But in 2023 the ragtag team hit their big break by defeating Angola at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Philippines. They had just qualified for the Olympics.

Naysayers didn’t take the African team seriously, and some even said they weren’t tall enough to be able to win.

Team members admitted they struggled with different styles of play when new players were added. They were a diverse group, with a common hope of making a name for their homeland, and giving their beleaguered country a moment of national pride.

And that they did. After their stunning showing in the exhibition match against the USA, where South Sudan lost by just one point while going shoulder to shoulder with NBA players the likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry, people started to take notice.

The team went on to make Olympic history for their nation by registering their first ever win in the Olympics in a matchup against Puerto Rico, achieving a decisive 90-79 victory.

“It means a lot, just to be here,” said forward Majok Deng. “It was a surreal moment and emotional in a way, too, because to raise your flag at that stage means everything. And that’s what we’re fighting for.”

Which is what made it all the more difficult emotionally when the team suffered a 96-85 loss in a highly respectable performance against Serbia – a team ranked fourth in the world – that eliminated South Sudan from the tournament, ending their 2024 Olympic run.

Despite questioning some of the officiating, the team shared embraces with their Serbian opponents from whom “they’d earned total respect,” wrote one news outlet.

“Hats off to them,” said Serbian star Bogdan Bogdanovic. “What Luol Deng has done for their federation is amazing.”

Bogdanovic was referring to the former Duke star who played 16 seasons in the NBA before presiding over South Sudan’s basketball federation. Deng used millions of his personal funds to finance the team and invest in a future of basketball for South Sudan.

Deng also took a moment to appreciate how much the team had accomplished on international basketball’s biggest stage.

“I’m proud of my guys. I’m proud of the federation. I’m proud of South Sudan. I’m proud of our fans. I’m proud of the continent,” Deng said. “We thank everybody that’s been able to help us out. This was a group effort.”

Team member Marial Shayok believes what they accomplished over the past week will resonate with a generation of young players who’d never seen South Sudan basketball on this level.

“It’s just the beginning of a bright future. And it’s just an amazing feeling,” Shayok said. “I hope it inspires…South Sudanese kids all over the world.”

While none of the team members currently play for the NBA, some play in leagues for countries that include Australia, Canada, China and Serbia. All eyes are on seventeen year-old Khaman Maluach, a 7 foot 2 inch player who is considered to be a rising star, and will debut as an incoming freshman at Duke this year.

As the ceremonies draw to a close shortly and team South Sudan goes their separate ways to pursue their futures, they will share the lasting bond of their 2024 Olympic experience, being the team who rose from obscurity to etch its place in Olympic history.

Point guard Carlik Jones, who achieved a triple-double in the US exhibition game and scored 19 points in the matchup with Puerto Rico, described his experience in words that captured the soul and spirit of the intrepid South Sudanese team. “I am here not just to be a basketball player, but also to be a brother. It’s more than just basketball.”

Referenced articles:
https://apnews.com/article/2024-olympics-south-sudan-basketball-073a8651367f8d4a6eab158a5a171530

https://apnews.com/article/2024-olympics-south-sudan-basketball-073a8651367f8d4a6eab158a5a171530