“This is where we get leaders” – Loreto Girls use Journalism to Express Themselves

It’s 8 a.m. Monday morning at Loreto Girls Secondary School, 10 kilometers north of Rumbek, the violence prone capital of Lakes state in South Sudan. The girls line up in four straight rows for their weekly assembly. J – j

Two students march toward the flagpole and unfurl the South Sudan horizontal tricolor flag of black, red and green. They begin to sing the national anthem in unison. Some put their hands over their hearts.

Loreto student Mary Jukudu holds an audio recorder in one hand with a pair of headphones covering her ears. She has a look of determination as she presses the record button.