29/09/2026
Gemeiza Kakule Kwajok graduates from USIU-Africa
journey: In March 2021, after completing my Senior Four examinations under many challenges while staying with relatives, one of my friends and my sister took me to Fulla Company in Konyo Konyo to sell water so that I could earn some money and support myself as a young girl.
I started selling water with the boys in the Sales and Marketing Department. We moved around Juba from morning until evening, selling water as Atalas. After spending a couple of months selling water, I asked the manager to allow me to go home and visit my parents and siblings, who were living in the village. He gave me three days.
The following morning, I went to Gemeiza. I woke up craving fresh tilapia fish, so I told my cousin, Poni, that we should go to the riverside to buy some. When we reached the riverside, we saw many vehicles and soldiers. Some were sitting on the ground while others were on chairs.
I asked Poni why there were so many soldiers there. She explained that they had been working in the area since 2019 on the road that was being constructed for tarmacking. We became afraid and took a bushy road.
That was when General Gabriel Lubang saw us and called loudly, “Kakule, don’t be afraid. You girls can come to the main road. These soldiers will not harm you.”
He then told us in Mundari that we should learn how to greet people, especially those who come from outside Mundari and live in our homeland. Poni explained that we were only afraid because of the large number of soldiers. We came back and greeted them.
Simon Akuei Deng asked for our names, and we introduced ourselves. Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel then asked whether we were in school. Poni replied that only I was in school and that she loved the cattle camp more than school, which made everyone laugh.
Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel asked me what level of education I was in, and I told him that I had sat for my Senior Four examinations and was waiting for the results. He asked whether I wanted to continue with my studies after receiving my results or join Poni in the cattle camp.
General Gabriel Lubang said I would continue because I had already come that far in my education.
Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel then pointed towards the east and asked whether I could see a foundation. I said yes. He told us that he was building it as a boarding school for girls from Gemeiza Payam because many girls in Mundari areas, especially those from less-educated families in remote villages, were rarely allowed to attend school.
He then asked me whether I wished to go to university if I performed well in Senior Four. I said yes. He told General Gabriel Lubang to look for me when my results came out if I truly wanted to continue my education.
After my visit, I returned to Juba and continued selling water. Months later, the results were released. I called my father in the village and told him that the results were out, that I had performed well, and that I wanted to go to university.
My father thanked God but explained that he could not afford to sponsor me because our cattle had been raided several times by Dinka Bor cattle raiders during the previous four years. He said he needed to keep the few remaining cattle to support my younger siblings and mothers because they were the family’s only source of income.
He advised me to ask our educated relatives for help, and if nobody could support me, I should look for a scholarship or continue selling water and save money for university.
I was heartbroken and cried for days because my father was the only person supporting me financially. I tried to contact relatives, but nobody gave me a positive response. I also applied for scholarships, but they all failed.
After two months, I remembered Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel and contacted General Gabriel Lubang. He told me that Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel had travelled outside the country but would return.
I waited patiently, but I still could not meet him. I spent two months searching for him in Juba and even went to the ARC offices within Juba to look for him.
One Monday, I went there again and was told that he had gone to the field. I found a stone inside the compound, sat down and cried.
After some time, John Kur Aleu came out of his office and saw me. He asked the security guards who I was, and they told him that I had been coming for two months looking for the big man.
John Kur recognized me in the compound of ARC, Custom office and asked why I was looking for Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel. I explained everything. He told me that if God helped me meet Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, he believed he would help because he loved people who were serious about education.
He gave me his number and promised to call me whenever Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel came to the office.
Three days later, I called John Kur again, but Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel was still not around. I told myself that I had tried enough and would stop looking for him.
However, that Friday evening, after returning from work, my former classmate Oboyi, who was a bodyguard of Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, called me and told me to come to Mangalla early the next morning because they would be there for two days before proceeding to Gemeiza.
At that time, I had no money because I had spent my small savings on transport while searching for Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel. I asked a friend to lend me 5,000 SSP, but she had no money.
I then went to a Somali shopkeeper named Abdi and borrowed 5,000 SSP for transport. At the boda boda station, the first rider asked for 6,000 SSP from Juba to Mangalla. The second also refused, but the third accepted the 5,000 SSP.
When I reached the compound in Mangalla, the security guards refused to let me enter. They asked who I was and why I wanted to see Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel. When I told them, they laughed and said it was impossible for someone like me to meet him because even people working there could not easily meet him.
I remained outside for more than two hours. Eventually, another soldier asked why I had been standing there for so long. After hearing my story, he allowed me inside and told me to sit under a tree while he tried to find a way for me to meet Simon Akuei Deng.
Simon was not around, so I waited from morning until evening. Later, a Mundari brother named Lino Aku came and asked why I was looking for Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel.
After hearing my story, he said it was difficult to meet him but promised to help. He managed to take me to where cooks sleep and the cook said that they didn’t have a place for me to sleep over. That night, because there was no proper place for me to sleep, I slept on the floor with the dress I was wearing as my mattress, no bedsheet and the mosquitoes and cold kept me awake for the whole night.
The following morning, Lino took me to Simon Akuei Deng after making arrangements with his protocol team. Since Simon knew me and knew my story, I was allowed to meet him.
He asked whether my Senior Four results were out, and I said yes. He told me to wait while he went to inform Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel that I had been searching for him for a long time.
When he returned, he explained that he had told Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel that Kakule had been looking for him for a long time and had come from Juba to find him.
Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel remained silent and went to the field for work. Simon told me that he did not know when Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel would return because he could either go back to Juba or stay in the camp in Gemeiza.
I decided to return to Juba. Simon called a driver, who took me back and gave me 100 US dollars for transport.
On the way, around Badingilo National Park, we saw a convoy coming towards us. The driver said they were Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel’s vehicles and that he had heard Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel was going to Gemeiza. He advised me to return to Mangalla or continue to Gemeiza.
I refused, saying I was tired of looking for Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel and wanted to go back to Juba.
When he heard of me saying that statement, he pulled me down in the car and stopped the driver.
The driver stopped a Sino truck and asked the driver to take me back to Mangalla or Gemeiza because I was looking for Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel.
When we reached Mangalla, we asked one of his bodyguards whether the convoy was going to Gemeiza. The bodyguard confirmed that they were going there.
The driver encouraged me to continue. We collected marram for transportation to Bor and continued towards Gemeiza.
Before reaching Wanyang, we saw Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel’s convoy moving at high speed towards Gemeiza.
When we reached Gemeiza, I saw a big wrestling match between Bambari Boma and Lieli Boma. I asked the driver to drop me there and went to watch the wrestling.
After several hours, I left and went home. On my way, Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel saw me and sent one of his bodyguards to call me.
When I met Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, he told me that Simon had informed him that I had been looking for him in Mangalla and that he had been busy, but now everything was fine.
He asked for my Senior Four results, and I presented them to him. He was excited after seeing my results and told me that he would help me go to university in Kenya.
He had also sent someone to call the Gemeiza elders because he wanted to appreciate them for keeping Gemeiza Payam peaceful. Eleven elders came, and Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel asked me to translate his English into Mundari.
He asked the elders where my parents were, and Emmanuel Wurjok told him that they were around and that my father was at the wrestling. Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel asked someone to bring my father, but Wurjok could not find him.
Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel then told the elders that I was a very intelligent girl and that he would help me go to university. The elders were happy and said they would tell my father about the good news.
He then asked me to return later in the evening with my father or another relative so that he could explain that he simply wanted to support my education.
I went home and told my father. Later, we returned to meet him.
Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel told my father, “Yaba, I called you here because I want to help your daughter go to university. If you agree, it is fine, and if you do not agree, there is no problem.”
My father explained that he had supported me from primary school through secondary school but could no longer afford university because our cattle had been raided.
That moment became the beginning of a new chapter in my life.after all Dr. Benjamin Mel asked my dad to allow me to stay freely, requesting my dad not organize marriage without my knowledge while in Kenya studying and advised him to allow me to marriage to a man of my choice after my studies.
Today, September 26, 2026, I celebrate my graduation from United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa), School of Computer Science and Information Systems, Department of Cybersecurity, in Nairobi, Kenya.
Looking back, the journey from selling water in Juba, sleeping on a floor in Mangalla, staying in relatives’ house, being chased from one home to another one, sleeping outside the fence for days, travelling with only 5,000 SSP, searching for Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel for months, and refusing to give up on my education has become one of the most important stories of my life.
I can simply say that Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel picked me up from the village and changed my life.
He is my sponsor, and his support made this journey possible. I am deeply proud and grateful for the opportunity he gave me.
Thank you so much Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, for your incredible support. Your kindness is rare, and you supported me without expecting anything in return.
I will always strive to make you proud by doing the right things, working hard, helping others, and continuing to do good as you have done for me and others.
I am deeply grateful to my father for supporting my education for as long as he could, to my family, and to everyone who encouraged me throughout this journey.
I also express my sincere appreciation to my sponsor, Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, for keeping his word and opening the door to my university education. His support gave me an opportunity to continue my studies at a time when I had almost lost hope.
I will always remember the opportunity Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel gave me and the support that helped me reach this important stage of my life.
What started with a young girl simply asking for an opportunity to continue her education has ended with a university graduation. I am grateful to everyone who played a role, directly or indirectly, in helping me reach this day.
Above all, I give thanks to God, who guided me through every difficult moment, gave me strength when I wanted to give up, and brought me to this day.
This graduation is not only a celebration of a degree; it is a testimony that with faith, determination, opportunity, and support, a difficult beginning can lead to a beautiful destination.
“A great person attracts great people”
