Marathon Turns Streets Into Solidarity
More than 300 runners surged through Juba at dawn last Saturday, transforming a routine 5K and 10K race into a public pledge of support for Watoto Church’s Neighbourhood Mother Program (Eye Radio).
Event chairperson Narani Glory told participants they were ‘running for a vulnerable mother in our community,’ framing fitness as a gateway to collective responsibility.
Two-Phase Pathway to Self-Reliance
Launched in 2021, the program guides mothers and widows through a year of structured support built on faith, dignity, and skills rather than one-off donations.
During the first six months women receive emotional counseling, basic literacy, and discipleship classes that rekindle confidence often dimmed by conflict or poverty.
The second half shifts to economic empowerment through hands-on training in tailoring, soap-making, baking, catering, and hairdressing, positioning graduates to earn income immediately.
Faces Behind the Statistics
Mother of three Lyon Samia combined newly learned soap and cake recipes to open a micro-enterprise that now covers her children’s tuition.
Widow Nyoka Susan Jacoba, once left with nothing after her husband’s death, mastered sewing and now supplies school uniforms while mentoring fellow trainees.
Financial Literacy Seals the Change
Beyond technical skills, mentors introduce budgeting, saving, and cooperative lending, enabling many households to shift from dependency to paying rent and stocking food reserves.
Expanding Impact Across South Sudan
Proceeds from the marathon will scale the model to Yei, Torit, and Wau, signaling a grassroots complement to South Sudan’s still-developing social welfare framework.
‘We build capacity and walk beside them until they stand,’ Narani affirmed, underlining an approach that merges faith with pragmatic economics.