Lancaster woman receives MBE for work with children in South Sudan

Carolyn Murray and her charity, Immanuel Kindergarten and Primary School of South Sudan, have helped fund material and paid for staff to continue building classrooms, provide a water well and electricity to run the school and educate hundreds of children.

And her work is ongoing, with new development work currently taking place to provide further education opportunities for the youngsters.

As we reported last year, Carolyn was awarded the MBE in 2020 New Year's Honours list for her work with children in South Sudan.

Due to Covid-19, her investure was delayed, and finally took place last Tuesday at Windsor Castle.

Carolyn first went out to South Sudan as a young graduate and has since devoted her life to supporting this school, the staff and other improvement of schools in the area.

The first school was a mud walled, thatched roof building, but Carolyn established the Immanuel Kindergarten Charity to raise funds for the first three brick built, tin roofed classrooms, staff room and a water butt for 50 students. Power is supplied by solar panels - the only reliable way to obtain the necessary power.

By 2014 there were 125 student in the first class alone, and more than 348 students attending. There is a desperate need for the children to learn to read, write and do maths to open opportunities beyond basic subsistence farming.

In a recent bid to raise funds, Carolyn and her charity supporters completed a sponsored abseil in August, and previously she threw herself out of a plane over Morecambe Bay on a parachute jump.

The £6,000 abseil donations meant the bricks for the new classroom could be made and local men employed to begin building.

When Carolyn visits the school she takes huge amounts of luggage transporting unobtainable school supplies and equipment. Between visits she collects and posts necessities caused by the civil war and transport deficiencies.

Carolyn remains grateful for all the local support she and the charity receive.

More information about Carolyn's work can be found here.