GESS Cash Transfer Beneficiaries Thrive After Education

This year, Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) marks 10 years since its commencement. To date, many beneficiaries have progressed to higher learning institutions, and others are already in employment.

In the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, girls’ education was rarely on the agenda, at best, secondary to the education of boys. However, a great change has unfolded throughout the lifetime of GESS. Our team working in the area contributed significantly towards this change to GESS’ behaviour change communication activities and cash transfers. The sight of women going to workplaces was a sight unseen and women participating in community development was unheard of, but this is changing.

Cash transfers are given to girls in select classes to lift the financial burden of sending girls to school, and the pressure to marry girls off for wealth gains. The money motivates girls to enrol and remain in school and complete their education.

On a typical weekday, on the muddy roads of Pibor, a few women can be seen going about their work, carrying jerrycans of milk to the market on their heads, some with babies strapped to their backs going to fetch water, and a few with handbags going to the office. Amongst those going to the office is Mary Gola. Mary is a seven-time recipient of the GESS cash transfer. She has now landed a job as a Finance and Admin Assistant with an international non-governmental organisation. However, her journey wasn’t an easy one.

Mary sits in her office made of iron sheets, both wall and roof (a common set-up of office buildings in Pibor). She is calm and wears a smile as she starts speaking to us: “I am from a polygamous family. I have six stepmothers and very many siblings. I am one of six children to my mother, but one of over 40 children to my father. Being in school wasn’t an easy thing because my dad didn’t have all [financial means] to take us to school. It was my mother who encouraged us to go to school”, Mary explains.

Polygamy is a very common scene in South Sudan, especially in Mary’s community. A big family is considered a sign of prestige and a source of wealth, especially where there are girls born in the family who are expected to be married off to accrue the bride price.

“Bringing up my children wasn’t easy because my husband had other wives and was therefore providing for all of them and the children. Education wasn’t one of my husband’s priorities; he wanted my daughters married off early, but for me I wanted my children to study, so it was a big struggle. But now, Mary is like a little star, she’s making a difference at home. Her father and I are proud”, Kaka, Mary’s mother beams with pride.

Photo 1 Kaka at her food stall.

She adds “One time my husband wanted Mary to be married, but I refused, and we had a misunderstanding that made him leave. I said I already heard about the importance of education (from the Our School radio series) and wanted to experience it through my children,” she bursts out laughing as she concludes.

In Pibor, just like in many South Sudanese communities, when it comes to education, boys are given priority over girls in households with limited resources. The GESS cash transfers therefore help to supplement the family income, helping to reduce the burden of sending girls to school, whilst discouraging harmful practices like early and forced marriage, which often play out in response to a family’s poor financial circumstances.

“When I was in primary school, the cash transfers helped me a lot. I always looked forward to receiving the money to pay for everything needed at school so that I could study without any interruption. Also, I didn’t have to ask my father for money. If I had done that, he might have felt like I was disturbing him with education and giving me out for marriage. When I was in Primary 8 in Pibor Girls’ Primary School, I used the money to pay for my exam fees and I was able to concentrate and study”, Mary adds as she speaks about her life during her primary years.

With all her fees paid, Mary was able to study hard and she passed her final exams, securing a scholarship to a prestigious girls’ secondary school in Eastern Equatoria State, where she completed her secondary school. “After I received my results, I got a scholarship to secondary school, which only covered school fees, but other school requirements were not provided for and that is when the cash transfers came in handy for me. I didn’t bother my mother so much to provide for my needs because I spent the cash transfers on scholastic materials. My mum runs a small business in Pibor Town, she wasn’t making much and had to take care of my siblings”, Mary adds, sighing relief.

After completing secondary education, Mary set out to find something to do to support her family. Very few women in her community had graduated from secondary school Sarah was confident in her ability to stand out and get a job. She surely got the job! “When I came back from school, I started looking for something to do. When I saw the advert for the job I do now, they needed a woman, so I applied and did the interviews and passed. Now I’m working and supporting my mum.” Mary’s mother continues to run her business.

Photo 2 Mary sits at her desk in her office.

In the busy market of Pibor, Kaka, Mary’s mother, runs a small restaurant where she sells coffee and porridge. On a busy afternoon, a few men can be seen seated under a tree near her shop, others sipping coffee as others wait for their orders to arrive. She beams with pride when she speaks about Sarah: “You see, my daughter is now someone in the community. People use her as an example to encourage their daughters to study hard. She gives me money at the end of the month. I didn’t believe this would happen to anyone in my family, but now I am enjoying the fruits of her education”, Mary’s mother adds with a big smile on her face.

Determined to make a difference in her community, Mary looks forward to getting into the university. “If I can get a job here and be paid money like this after secondary school, how much more can I make if I go to university? Now I plan on going to the university”, Mary adds, confidently.

Stories of girls in formal employment like Mary weren’t common years ago, but now, they are coming to light.

Photo 3 Mary and her mother

Mary Mali, a five-time beneficiary of the GESS cash transfer is employed as a Case Manager with a local organisation in Pibor. She works with women who are facing early and forced marriage and gender-based violence in her community. She registers the cases and escalates them for further support to the survivors.

Mary uses her free time to mentor girls in her former primary school – Pibor Girls’ Primary School: “I completed my secondary school in Pibor Secondary School, and now I am working. When girls see me, they feel that they could also be like me because I can afford things which I need without asking a man for them. I also support my family. For example, when my mother is sick, I can buy her medicine. I am glad I used the cash transfers which I received while in school for the right purpose. Now I’m benefitting.”

Mr Nyabok Ngali, the Director General at the State Ministry of Education speaks of the impact of the GESS cash transfers and behaviour change communication activities. “The biggest problem we have here is that parents can’t afford to send their children to school. With the GESS cash transfers, parents have no reason not to send their girls to school and we’ve seen the impact. Last year (2023), we registered the highest number of girls sitting in the final exams in the primary. This is because parents now send them to school”, Mr Ngali adds.

About the attitude of the community towards education, Mr Ngali says, “In the past, parents used to remove their daughters from school for marriage. This is decreasing nowadays because people listen to the radio programme from GESS (Our School) and understand the importance of education. The radio programme is very important. Some people decided to send daughters to school after listening to the programme and [there are] testimonies of girls who are educated, changing the status of their families”.

With all the gains made, there is still more to be done. Continuous behaviour change is necessary so that people embrace the education of girls and work towards supporting their daughters in school. Access is also an issue; currently, there is only one secondary school in the Administrative Area, which isn’t sufficient to accommodate all those who complete primary level education.

In Pibor and across South Sudan, GESS has emerged as a lifeline for young girls, empowering them to overcome financial barriers and reach their goals.

The GESS programme has supported over one million girls with cash transfers across South Sudan and reached over two million people with radio programming.

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