YOUNG Sudanese children have started school in style thanks to the generosity of many Skipton residents.

Forty children aged between seven and 10 began their first ever term at a brand new school in Khartoum wearing school uniforms from Craven schools.

In the summer of 1999 an appeal went out for clothing for the Sudanese children and the people of Holy Trinity Church, Skipton responded by sending two large boxes of shirts, skirts, socks, trousers, shoes, underwear and jumpers.

They bear the logos of Skipton Parish School, Greatwood Community School, Skipton Girls' High, South Craven, Aireville and Glusburn School.

The primary school in Sudan was built by the Khartoum Diocese of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, which is linked to the Bradford Diocese. It was made of mud bricks and plastered with donkey dung. It opened its doors for the first time in September 1999.

There is no electricity nor running water in the school but the children get a meal of lentils or beans and bread served in the playground, which in some cases could be the only meal of the day.

Most importantly the children get the chance of an education which includes reading, writing and arithmetic in Arabic, and the chance to learn to read and write in their own mother tongue.

The headmaster said: "We want to thank the people who sent the clothes. The families of these children have fled to Khartoum from their home areas for safety.

"There is little or no educational provision for them in the sprawling areas on the edge of the city built for displaced people and there is no work for the parents and therefore no income.

"In their home areas these people were farmers, they kept cattle or grew crops. In Khartoum they are reduced to selling tea or peanuts in the city centre.

"With primary school education these children may be able to get better jobs, go on to secondary school, and maybe even become leaders in their community."

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