Students gather for class in a makeshift structure as others study under a tree in Habile #1, one of three schools in KouKoou for Internally Displaced Persons.  It is too hot in the desert mid-day sun, so classes end at noon with a meal for the students.

JRS provides schooling for a thousand students in the Aradib #1 refugee camp in the village of Goz Amir. Students carry their blackboards to storage when classes end because of the afternoon heat. 

JRS supports three schools at the refugee camp for Internally Displaced Persons who fled the Darfur conflict. The  instructor, Yasine Souleymane, received two years of  teacher training through JRS.  

Students run to their classes after hearing the early morning school bell at Saint Bakhita Primary School.                             

At Mondikolok Primary School, head teacher Joseph Lagu Pius, often leads the students in a conflict resolution session when arguments arise, teaching students peaceful solutions to their differences.   

The Kiziba Camp began in 1996 when violence erupted in the Congo. Years of ongoing violence between different rebel groups prevent the thousands of  displaced from returning to their homes. JRS provides educational opportunities including life skills classes.           

These are the typical homes for families living in the Kibiza camp.

Many children have been born and raised in the Gihembe refugee camp and this is the only home they know. The ongoing conflict in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo makes it too dangerous for families to return.  

A mother has some lunch with her son beneath Mt. Nyiragongo, which towers over the Eastern Congolese city of Goma. Refugees are completely dependent on the UNHCR for food. 

Mt. Nyiragongo, which towers over the Eastern Congolese city of Goma, erupted in January 2002, destroying a large part of the city and making over 120,000 residents homeless. Now over 100,000 refugees who have fled the violence of roaming militia and rebel groups, are sheltered on the lava rock beneath the smoldering volcano

The following is an excerpt from JRS Horizons of Learning ...a specialisation in education stands out as a particularly important characteristic of our mission, permeating the life of practically all services offered. JRS has this focus on providing education to refugees, springing from the needs of the refugees and our Ignatian tradition of discernment on how best we can offer our support.

On weekends and holidays, the JRS staff conduct in-service teacher training workshops. Allan Gora, JRS's Primary Education Assistant, leads a morning session on administrative procedures.

More from JRS Horizons of Learning ...JRS workers value this education-based approach because they firmly believe it affirms the humanity of refugees and restores their wounded dignity. Education means planting seeds of hope in the insecure and traumatic pressent of refugees, seeds which hold future promise.

A tailoring class is held in the Ocea Sector of the Rhino Camp, which is home to tens of thousands of refugees from neighboring Sudan. Women who finish the class can apply to get a new sewing machine if they raise 50% of the cost. JRS supplies the other half.

A tailoring class is held in the Ocea Sector of the Rhino Camp, which is home to tens of thousands of refugees from neighboring Sudan. Women who finish the class can apply to get a new sewing machine if they raise 50% of the cost. JRS supplies the other half.

Goefry Apiku and Emanuyal Anyanzo, best of friends, share a small hut called a Tukul.

P7 monthly examinations are held in the Episcopal church in Nimule. John Kelei, age 28, also a former child soldier, assists John Lual, age 18, during the exam.

Hilary Sebit, teacher of primary grade 2 at the Jigomoni Primary school has two hundred students. JRS supports fifteen of the 132 schools in the Yei diocese.The Jigomoni school is being refurbished by JRS after being damaged in the Sudanese civil war.

At the Limi Primary School for Internally Displaced People, Simon Modi, a JRS Peace Education Teacher, leads students in conflict resolution.

This refugee camp was home to thousands who had fled the violence.