Sudanese group to launch new youth program

Aserela Maine is holding one of its biggest fundraisers of the year this weekend, and proceeds will help finish construction on an eight-room school in Sudan and create a youth cultural immersion program in Portland.

The event, "Feast for the Children," will feature a wide range of traditional Sudanese dishes, traditional dancing, and songs. It will be held Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Guild Hall at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland. Tickets cost $20 per person.

Although the fundraiser hasn't been held since 2008, it dates back more than 15 years, said Alfred Jacob, a community organizer with the Portland-based Acholi Sudanese community group Aserela, which stands for Action for Self Reliance.

Recent "tragedies in the Sudanese community," including the unsolved murder of Mercy Hospital guard James Angelo, in 2008, led to the cancellation of the event the past two years, he said.

Most of the money raised Saturday will fund the ongoing construction of a school in the village of Kit, in Southern Sudan, but a portion will go toward a new literacy program for young Sudanese in Portland.

Jacob said the youth program is still in the planning stages but that the basic goal is is to promote cultural identity among Sudanese children, many of whom were born in America and never experienced traditional Sudanese culture. The programs, to be taught by Sudanese community elders on a volunteer basis, will focus on teaching the Acholi language, literature and customs.

"The idea is to teach literacy and maintain identity and also to begin to take hold of our own young people and to be involved in their education in the city," said Jacob, who adds that young Sudanese are "facing a lot of difficulties" right now.

A secondary component will encourage Sudanese parents to take a more active role in their kids' lives.

"Some of the kids were born here, and most of them have no recollections of Sudan ... and consider themselves American," Jacob added. "They don't speak the language, which is the second thing. The third thing is that those (traditions) are really slipping away, and we want to try to bring them back."

Depending on how much is raised this weekend -- organizers hope to take in between $15,000 and $20,000 -- construction on the school in Southern Sudan could wrap up by June. The three-year-old project is now in the latter stages after years of planning, surveying and phased construction. When it's done, the school will include eight classrooms, a fresh water source, toilets and two offices.

Aserela has spent years raising money for the school, which is a partnership with the local village that allows costs to be split down the middle. Jacob says villagers provide materials available locally such a bricks while Aserela pays for non-native material like cement.

"Through cooperation, we are able to accomplish a lot of things with a very minimal budget," says Jacob, who spent six weeks in Sudan last summer, including several days in Kit.

Once the school is complete, Aserela plans to take a more active role in Portland-based projects and programs. Jacob says the youth literacy program is the first step, but that future efforts would likely include partnerships with neighborhood groups and other institutions.