December 2018 Renewal Secondary School Update

In 2018, Operation Broken Silence launched the Stand For Education Campaign, a fundraising movement focused on building the Renewal High School in Yida Refugee Camp, South Sudan. This marks the first update concerning the high school and is about how your fundraising and giving has put plans ahead of schedule. 

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Background

People in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan have been living in emergency conditions since June of 2011, when the government of Sudan launched a relentless campaign of terror and death against their communities. The Sudanese government has officially banned all aid and media organizations from the Nuba Mountains in an attempt to cover up their war crimes. The deteriorating situation here has become a forgotten conflict for much of the world. Click or tap the map for a visual. 

A fragile ceasefire is currently in effect in the Nuba Mountains, but many expect it not to last. 

Tens of thousands of children have fled the war and genocide in the Nuba Mountains and are sitting in refugee camps where not nearly enough educational services exist. Dozens of Nuba teachers have been unable to get back to work due to a lack of financial resources. Those that are working lack basic classroom items. This education crisis is an enormous long-term issue threatening the future of not only the Nuba people, but also all of Sudan.

Building and supporting classrooms, paying teacher salaries, and ensuring that children have access to a free education is one of our organization's top priorities. You can watch the Stand For Education campaign video to see what that actually looks like on the ground:

To date, 91 fundraisers, 232 donors, and 2 monthly recurring donors have worked togetherto fund the startup costs of The Renewal High School. Almost $15,000 has been raised and given already!

Construction on six classrooms, two teacher offices, and one library will begin in January 2019. This will make up the core of the school. More classrooms, a small lab, and one lecture hall are slated to be built between 2020-2022. Classroom walls will be made out of the traditional un-fired bricks that are common throughout Yida. It's nothing glamorous, but it gets the job done. The lecture hall can also be used as a space for teacher and community training needs in the future. 

Materials that cannot be obtained in Yida are currently being procured in Juba and Kampala. This includes a small solar system, a computer and printer, tarps for roofing, cement, teacher guides and teacher textbooks, chalkboards, and more.

The school will be phased into existence, similar to how we have grown and supported the Endure Primary School in Yida. When The Renewal High School opens in 2019, the plan is for most components of the first three grades to be included. The final grade is slated to be added in 2020 as additional classrooms and materials are added. This phased approach also spreads out the fundraising burden on our organization, as well as provides our education coordinator additional time to work out kinks and additional teacher training needs at the school. 

There is certainly a lot of work and long road ahead, but the process of making The Renewal High School a reality is now officially underway. Here are a few ways you can join us on this journey.

Elie Wiesel Act Passes Out Of U.S. Senate

Yesterday, The Elie Wiesel Act was passed out of the United States Senate by Unanimous Consent. This is a moment our organization and 600+ of our supporters in Tennessee helped make possible. Last update, we mentioned that because of your advocacy, the bill was amended and passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

What The Bill Does

S. 1158 is new federal legislation that helps ensure the U.S. government has the tools, training, and funding needed to save lives and promote peace when it becomes apparent that mass atrocity situations are becoming a threat on foreign soil. Specifically, this legislation:

• Affirms that atrocity prevention is in the U.S. national interest;

• Calls on the government to pursue a government-wide strategy to: strengthen U.S. diplomatic, risk analysis/monitoring, early warning, and response capacities around atrocity crimes; improve the use of U.S. foreign assistance to address the root causes of violent conflict; strengthen support to transitional justice mechanisms and local civil society groups in countries at risk of or experiencing mass atrocities; support and strengthen local civil society, including human rights defenders and others working to help prevent and respond to atrocities; promote financial transparency and enhance anti-corruption initiatives as part of addressing causes of conditions that may lead to atrocities; and prioritize preventative diplomacy through unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral mechanisms;

• Requires specialized training for Foreign Service Officers who will be deployed to a country experiencing or at risk of mass atrocities; and

• Mandates annual reporting to Congress of the Executive Branch's efforts to prevent and respond to mass atrocities, provide an assessment of countries and regions at risk of such violence, and provide a report on Foreign Service Officer training.

Additional information about the bill and the full text can be found here. We would like to thank all of you for raising up your voices around this bill, and we would like to thank Senator Corker for his leadership in seeing the Elie Wiesel Act moved through his committee and into the Senate.

S.1158 now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Movement Spotlight: Lauren Berry and Sarah Greenspon

Other than seeing our programs grow and knowing that the work we’re doing is empowering our friends in Sudan, my top two favorite things about Operation Broken Silence are: 

1. Our Mission. Our education program, including the Endure Primary School and soon-to-be Renewal High School in Yida Refugee Camp, are entirely funded by individual supporters. We receive no major grants for these programs; instead, our AMAZING movement members make these programs possible by fundraising, donating, and giving monthly to the Sudanese-led program they are most passionate about. To me, this really shows what each person is capable of and how we all play a role in furthering our mission!

2. Our Movement. While most of the world is becoming more and more technology based, we’ve decided to spend more time face-to-face with the people who make our work of empowering the Sudanese possible. Every time we have an event, I see people moved by both the atrocities that the Sudanese face, as well as the resilience and hope they have. Every time I am reminded of the fact that being able to feel compassion for people we have never met and crises that we have never lived through is what makes us human. Technology is useful for sharing messages, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this, but these events and our movement members really move our work forward in a special way.

As the Fundraising Enthusiast here, I love the moments when I really see these two qualities of OBS coming together. This is exactly what happened on September 27, when two of our awesome Eden's Run 5K committee members, Lauren Berry and Sarah Greenspon, decided to host a fundraising party for the Endure Primary School. In just a few hours, they raised $155 and had a great time introducing new supporters to our programs over wine, pizza, and games. Here's what Lauren had to say:

“Sarah and I wanted to raise money for OBS by bringing all of our friends together for a dinner party. We figured that there was no better way to share this mission than by hosting a night for people to ask us questions about the work being done in Sudan, while also raising money for it. There was enough wine and pizza rolls to go around, and we had about 15 of our friends in attendance. All we did was ask that they donate $10, and we provided the food and wine. I think this was a good way for our friends to give back, instead off just donating through a link, (although I’m raising money that way too!) we just wanted to give people another option that they could get something out of as well. We will definitely be hosting something like this again in the future!”

- Lauren Berry, Eden’s Run 5K Committee Member & Fundraising Party Co-host

We love our fundraisers and event hosts so much! We are also excited for this year's #StandForEducation holiday campaign, as well as our annual events including Eden’s Run 5K and the Good People Good Beer Gala, where many of you will be joining us as first time or veteran fundraisers! Whether you fundraise online, in person through events like this, or both, you can dedicate a festive occasion to empowering the people of Sudan and get your friends and family involved!

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About Audrey

Audrey grew up in Memphis, TN. She is the granddaughter of a Holocaust escapee and Spanish Civil War survivor and the daughter of a Cuban refugee. Her vibrant personality and passion for the Sudanese people inspire pretty much everyone she meets. 

Audrey helps our supporters raise more funds for the programs we empower in Sudan. She loves yoga, reading, and spending time with her husband and their dog.

Operation Broken Silence Named A Top Growing Nonprofit By Classy

Today we are humbled to announce our place on the Classy 100—a list of the top growing nonprofits on the Classy platform. 

The annual list from Classy, creator of world-class online fundraising software, celebrates growth-minded organizations looking to scale their impact. To recognize these nonprofits, Classy created a unique growth score based on an organization’s year-over-year donation volume.

This year’s Classy 100 also identifies four key common contributors—growth trends—that were prevalent across the top 100 organizations’ strategies. These factors include refining existing tactics, trying new campaign types, growing their recurring donor pool, and expanding their geographical donor network. 

“The Classy 100 has become a staple initiative for us because it’s important that we continue to promote and celebrate growth in the social sector,” said Scot Chisholm, Classy CEO and Co-Founder. “As donor churn threatens organizations’ sustainability and the charitable giving landscape becomes increasingly fragmented, nonprofits must adapt to raise the funds necessary to make an impact. We’re proud of these organizations that continue to make strategic decisions, experiment with new campaigns, and continue their overall quest to engage and retain new donors.”

Recognized as number 41 out of 100, Operation Broken Silence leveraged Classy in 2017 to double the size of our recurring donor family, fully fund the Endure Primary School, and allow supporters to create online fundraising pages for Mother of Mercy Hospital for the first time. 

“The world-class tools and resources Classy has provided us are critical to the success of our mission," said Mark Hackett, Executive Director at Operation Broken Silence. "With Classy, we are able to provide our movement members tangible ways to be involved with supporting some incredible programs in Sudan that are changing and saving lives, as well as provide supporters simple and beautiful ways to talk to their friends and family about the crisis in Sudan. Our movement is growing in an increasingly sustainable way, and Classy is an integral component of that growth.”

To be included in the Classy 100, organizations needed to have had at least five transactions on Classy before 2016, made at least $40,000 on Classy in 2016, grown in 2017, and be currently active on the Classy platform. The organizations recognized span a large array of causes, sizes, and revenue. To learn more about how Operation Broken Silence and all of the other Classy 100 recipients grew, please click here.

Memphis, We Belong Here

On February 1, we joined over 1,000 of our fellow citizens here in Memphis to protest the Trump Administration’s travel ban. Starting at 5PM, we gathered at the historic Clayborne Temple and marched to the National Civil Rights Museum. Here are a few photos from the march:

The people of Sudan are overcoming two of the greatest challenges facing humanity today: war and genocide. Operation Broken Silence is accelerating their ability to generate lasting change through storytelling, education, and healthcare programs. Sudan is one of the countries that the Trump Administration has banned refugees from. 

Here are a few positive ways you can support Sudanese refugees right now.

Building A Global Movement: Our Next Big Step

Since Operation Broken Silence's beginning, one of our primary programs has been to use visual storytelling and our top-notch fundraising and giving platform to build and sustain a global movement that empowers the Sudanese people. We're in the fight for a better Sudan over the long haul alongside of our Sudanese friends and partners. It will not be an easy or short process. From our Executive Director all the way down to our newest movement members, we understand that our mission will most likely take place over the course of our lifetimes.

I am excited to announce another major step forwards towards building our global movement. Starting today, your fundraising and giving efforts are going global like never before. Operation Broken Silence can now accept donations in over 130 currencies worldwide, and our supporters outside of the United States can now start fundraising pages in their own currencies as well!

So, how does it work? This is where things get even more awesome! Let's take a look at our holiday campaign this year as an example.

Fundraising In Your Country's Currency

If you live outside of the United States and visit one of our fundraising campaigns, you can simply click the currency symbol next to the box you enter your fundraising goal amount into and pick the currency you would like to fundraise in. You can click or tap the below screenshot of our holiday fundraising page setup and see the small green circle where you can chage your currency.

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Donating In Your Country's Currency

If you live outside of the United States and visit one of our donation pages, your native currency and applicable address fields automatically display, making it easy for you to give to empower the Sudanese people.  And your donation receipt will display the amount you gave in the currency you gave!

On the rare occassion that your country's currency doesn't automatically pop up on the donation page, you can simply click the currency symbol next to the box you enter your donation amount into and pick the currency you would like to give in. It's very similar to how you would change the currency you are fundraising in when you start a fundraising page! You can click or tap the below screenshot of one of our donation pages and see the small green circle where you can chage your currency.

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We are 100% serious when we say that we are building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Today is another major step forwards in growing our movement beyond the United States.