Rumbek Day 2024

Friday the 25th of October marked our yearly Rumbek day. It was a day to help raise money and awareness for the girls in South Sudan who are unable to go to school. This year, Loreto Balbriggan was helping Aweil in South Sudan build their own school. Each student had a chance to buy a brick (BAB) for the school to help it be built. Each brick cost only €10. At the entrance of Loreto Balbriggan's main school building, there was a visual representation of how many bricks were bought already and how much money we raised.

As October 25th was so close to Halloween, everyone dressed up in costumes as well. Then during the first period, we gathered out onto the astro-pitch and formed the words ‘S.Sudan’. It was a whole-school activity, once again, in support of the country where we hope the next Loreto school will be built.

During the day there were many fun activities everyone could participate in to help raise money. We even had lunch early to accommodate the activities. There was a photobooth in the Atrium during lunch where you could get your picture taken with your friends. There were different games going on like throwing bean bags and guessing how many sweets were in a jar. There was also a disco in the gym, open to everybody. Rumbek Day also fell on the final day of our annual Music Week. That meant that there were still different pop-up performances and music classes playing throughout the day. They would play at break and between the break of classes for the students to see.

During our last period, we had a whole school quiz containing questions about teachers in the school, brands and logos, general trivia etc. There was also a competition on which student had the best Halloween costume.

Reaching our goal for the fundraiser marked the end of Rumbek day this year. The money we raised is going towards the building of the school in Aweil as a way to let girls our age attend school.  Education in South Sudan is a major problem for women. A lot of them can’t afford or are unable to go to school, which is why they needed our help and the support of all other Loreto schools.

Written by Tara Coen-Hernandez