Padoc Area Scholars Society, USA - PASS

In 2026, education for girls in South Sudan is still not guaranteed.

An estimated 64% to 76% of school-aged girls are out of school. Not because they do not want to learn, but because too many barriers still stand in their way.

For many, school ends early. Sometimes because of poverty. Sometimes because of distance. And too often because of early marriage or the risk of violence that makes staying in school unsafe or impossible.

These are not just statistics. They are interrupted childhoods. Girls who should be learning in classrooms are instead pushed into adult responsibilities far too soon, long before they are ready.

UNICEF has consistently raised concern about the scale of girls’ exclusion in fragile and conflict-affected contexts like South Sudan, where education is often disrupted by both economic pressure and protection risks. UN Women, Executive Director Sima Bahous has also emphasized that when girls are denied education, entire societies lose leadership, stability, and long-term development.

Behind every percentage is a girl with a name, a dream, and a future that was meant to unfold differently.

A girl who wanted to stay in school.
A girl who wanted to become something beyond what her circumstances allowed.
A girl who should not have to choose between safety and education.

At PASS USA, we are not speaking about numbers in isolation. We are speaking about girls whose futures are still being shaped in real time.

Education is not what they lack ambition for. It is what they are being denied access to.

And in 2026, that reality demands urgency, not silence.

Stand with girls in South Sudan. Support their education today.

www.southsudanpass.org

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As Refugee Day is coming up, we’re reminded of the young women who didn’t choose this path, but are still trying to build a future inside it.

Across South Sudan and refugee communities, many young women face displacement, poverty, and pressure to leave school early. For some, education stops not because they lose ambition, but because life becomes too heavy to carry alone.

But some still hold on.

At PASS USA, we support young women who are fighting to stay in school despite everything working against them.
Because for them, education is not just a classroom. It is stability, dignity, and a real chance at a different future.

Stand with young women in refugee communities who are still fighting for their education.
Support their education journey today.
www.southsudanpass.org

Across South Sudan and refugee communities, many young people are growing up in situations they did not choose displacement, poverty, and uncertainty about tomorrow.

For many girls, education ends too soon. Not because they don’t have dreams, but because early marriage, lack of support, and hardship close the doors too early.

But some girls keep going.

At PASS USA, we walk with students who refuse to give up on their education, students like Khamisa, Basamat, and Kima.

They are not just trying to stay in school. They are fighting for a different future.

Help them keep going.

For Thrivent members, your Choice Dollars can be directed to PASS USA to support students across South Sudan.

If you are not a member, you can still be part of this story by signing up and learning how it works.

Because sometimes, staying in school is the hardest battle of all, and no girl should fight it alone.

www.southsudanpass.org

She lost her self-esteem when her parents lost everything during the South Sudan Civil War.
School became uncertain. Dreams felt distant. And for a while, she began to believe that her story would end before it truly began.

But it did not.

Through the support of PASS USA, she found her way back. Her tuition was covered. She had a safe place to stay. She received guidance, encouragement, and something she thought she had lost forever: confidence.

Today, she is still in school. Still rising. Still becoming.

Many girls want to stay in school, but support is not always there.
At PASS USA, we provide that support, tuition, housing, and guidance.

With Thrivent, making an impact is simple. Thrivent members already have Choice Dollars.
No new money is required.

Do not leave your Choice Dollars unused. Direct them today.

Not a member? Learn how this works and be part of transforming a girl’s future: https://www.thrivent.com/about-us

In South Sudan and across refugee and conflict-affected communities that PASS USA serves, girls’ education is still constantly interrupted, not because the desire to learn is missing, but because the barriers are overwhelming.

Poverty forces impossible choices.
Conflict disrupts stability.
Child marriage redirects futures too early.
Displacement breaks continuity.
And limited access to secondary schooling, college, and university pathways leaves too many girls without a clear way forward.

Yet, even in the middle of these realities, girls continue to hold on to ambition. They continue to imagine lives beyond survival, beyond limitation, beyond expectation.

That is why education cannot be treated as a privilege to be earned later. It is a right that must be actively protected now, especially for girls whose circumstances make access fragile.

At PASS USA, we see education as more than enrollment. We see it as protection from early vulnerability, as a bridge into stability, and as the foundation for long-term leadership.

Because when a girl stays in school, moves into college, and reaches university, something deeper shifts than academics alone. Confidence grows. Possibility expands. Entire communities begin to change through her presence, her choices, and her voice.

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Behind every scholarship at PASS USA is a young person trying to hold onto their future.

Some are studying in South Sudan. Some are in refugee settlements across Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Many are carrying more responsibility than most people their age should ever have to carry.

But they are still showing up for education.

PASS USA exists because talent is not the problem. Access is.

We provide full-ride scholarships that cover tuition and living support, because staying in school should not depend on whether a family can afford tomorrow.

And for many young women, this support means something even deeper. It means a chance to stay in school instead of being pushed into early marriage. It means the possibility of breaking cycles that have lasted for generations.

This is not just about education.

It is about protecting futures that are already in motion.

www.southsudanpass.org

On the World Day Against Child Labour, we are confronted with a reality we cannot afford to normalize: too many children are still working instead of learning.

In conflict-affected and displaced communities, including the populations PASS USA serves across South Sudan and refugee settlements in East Africa, child labour is rarely about choice. It is about survival in systems where poverty, instability, and disrupted schooling collide. Many of the youths in our Scholarship Program have lived this experience.

When a child is pushed into work, it is not just education that is lost. It is safety, childhood, and the possibility of a different future.

At PASS USA, we see education as more than access to schooling, college, and university pathways. We see it as protection. As stability. As the first real alternative to cycles that force children into labor too early.

This is why our work focuses on removing barriers that keep students out of school and higher education in the first place, so that learning becomes the path forward, not the privilege of a few.

Because no child should have to trade their education for survival.

And no future should be decided by the absence of opportunity.

Until children are in school, college, and university instead of working to survive, the work of justice is not complete.

We call on global communities, philanthropists, individual donors, corporate partners, child protection advocates, and education champions everywhere.

This is not a distant issue. It is a shared responsibility.

Every child deserves more than survival. They deserve education, safety, and a real chance at childhood.

In South Sudan, a girl’s education is never simply handed to her.

It is something she has to hold onto, protect, and in many cases, actively fight to keep.

You see it in the way some girls navigate long, uncertain journeys to school with no guarantee of safety or consistency. You see it in households where education is weighed against daily survival, and the decision is rarely simple. You see it in the quiet reality that for many girls, staying in school is not the default outcome, it is the exception they have to work toward.

Even with global promises under SDG 5 pushing for gender equality, the reality in many communities remains difficult. Girls in South Sudan are still far less likely than boys to complete higher levels of education, not because of lack of ambition or ability, but because of long standing structural barriers that shape access from the very beginning.

These are not individual failures. They are systems that have not yet been built to hold every child equally. They show up as missing resources, limited protection, early pressure to leave school, and opportunities that are not evenly distributed.

At PASS USA, we work in the middle of this reality. We stand with young women who are determined to stay in school and move beyond it. Our focus is not only access, but completion, transition, and leadership. Because education should not end at survival, it should open the door to possibility.

Real gender equality in education is not achieved through statements alone. It requires consistent investment, intentional structures, and policies that are carried through in practice, not just intention.
And until that happens, too many girls will continue to carry the weight of an unequal system alone.

Join us today: wwwsouthsudanpass.org

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Bakhita Adut is a young woman from South Sudan, the poorest country in the world. Where conflict, displacement, and instability have limited access to education for many girls.

Bakhita's early life was shaped by war and disruption, where education was uncertain and often interrupted.

She became a PASS USA scholar, receiving full scholarship support and mentorship to continue her education. Through PASS USA, she gained stability and a clear pathway to build her future at Nkumba University in Kampala, where she has grown into a focused and determined young woman.

Recently, she participated in an IEEE Conference on Technology and Innovation at Nkumba University. The workshop introduced students and young professionals to opportunities in technology, networking, innovation, research, leadership, and career growth. It provided Bakhita with valuable exposure, learning experiences, professional connections, and insights into emerging opportunities in STEM.

For Bakhita, this is more than participation. It is progress. It is what becomes possible when a young woman is supported beyond survival into growth.

At PASS USA, she represents many young women who are stepping into leadership and opportunity when given the chance.

Support a girl’s education and help create more stories like this.
www.southsudanpass.org

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