St Francis, Heartsease

Rachel Lindley, Co-CEO of Five Talents explains:

South Sudan is the world's youngest country, and one of its most wounded. I think about that often — what it means to build something in a place that has had so little time, and so little peace, to find its footing. We recently received two years of impact data from our programme in Wandi, and I wanted to share it, because these numbers deserve more than a report.

South Sudan gained independence in 2011 after decades of war that claimed an estimated two million lives. Civil war erupted again in 2013 and 2016, forcing millions from their homes. Today, more than three quarters of South Sudanese live below the national poverty line, only 35% of adults are literate, and the country ranks 191st out of 193 for education spending.

Wandi sits within that reality. It lay on the route of armed groups during the conflict. Homes were seized, harvests stolen, and gender-based violence was widespread. Nearly 5,000 people remain displaced. There is one bank in the region, no school in one of Wandi's five districts, and roads that are impassable for much of the year. When Five Talents first began working there, staff travelled an hour by motorbike just to find a mobile signal. In 2024, we partnered with Mothers' Union South Sudan to begin literacy groups.

Those literacy groups became savings groups in 2025. The results after two years are extraordinary.

Literacy in participants' mother tongue rose from 4% to 76%. Every member has joined a savings group, 65% have taken a loan, and repayment stands at 99%. More than seven in ten have started a business or other income-generating activity, 66% report higher household income, and 60% can now send their children to school.

The social impact is just as striking. Knowledge of women's rights increased from 18% to 93%, with participants now actively advocating for them.

Perhaps the most remarkable finding concerns trauma. At the start, 38% of members reported experiencing trauma. By 2026, that had risen to 98% — not because violence had increased, but because trauma healing created, for many, the first safe space they had ever had to name what they had lived through. Those with coping strategies rose from 19% to 76%, 91% reported stronger family relationships, and 98% said they were actively involved in community peacebuilding.

This programme is delivered by two women — Eunice and Catherine — who travel by motorbike and often continue on foot. Last year, while Eunice was attending a workshop in Nairobi, communities back home were forced to shelter overnight as violence threatened. When they returned, their homes had been looted. During that night away, some had spent the time practising their literacy together.

There is a version of development that relies on external expertise and leaves communities dependent. What is happening in Wandi is different: it is built from within, owned by the community, and designed to last.

These results, in this context, after just two years, are remarkable. I'm incredibly proud of Eunice, Catherine, and every member of every savings group in Wandi, and deeply grateful to our supporters in the UK who make this work possible. If this is something you'd like to be part of, visit www.fivetalents.org.uk .

St Francis, Heartsease

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