Former GESS Beneficiary Excels!

Today we would like to celebrate a former GESS beneficiary who is now an author! Elizabeth Anyieth Mayen has just published her book, ‘Hope in Darkness’. Ms Mayen says her book is intended to give the less privileged, especially those in her country South Sudan hope. “It’s a book for the orphaned, mistreated, and their tormentors, aiming at making the latter think twice of their actions and bringing them to the realization that their day of reckoning shall surely come”.

The book is currently available for sale in Juba.

Ms Mayen received a GESS Cash Transfer three times whilst she was in secondary school. Cash Transfers are direct payments given to schoolgirls across the country to remove the financial burden on education. To date, over 880,000 individual girls have benefitted from GESS Cash Transfers  and overall, 1.6 million payments were made in the last three years of the Programme.

Ms Mayen is currently on a break from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, where she studies law. She still vividly remembers how the Cash Transfers benefited her while she was in school, “Nobody knows the benefit of that money other than a girl who receives it. Some people say it is small money but the difference it makes in the life of schoolgirls is not small. Speaking for myself, I used the money to buy a lamp to do extra studies at night while at home since there was no electricity. I also purchased some books for extra reading, and it paid off for me”.

In 2019, Ms Mayen topped the South Sudan Certificate of Secondary Education examination leader board as the best student nationally, scoring 96%.

Girls have the potential to excel if given the right support. GESS continues to support schoolgirls across the country to realise their full potential. We urge all stakeholders, including parents to ensure all girls, including those  with disabilities are given the opportunity access education.

Categorised in: Cash Transfers, Girls' Education, Human Interest Story