Meet Charles, the Amala alumnus opening educational doors for others
Amala alumnus Charles Lopir knows a lot about survival.
Originally from Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan, Charles was forced to flee to Kakuma Refugee Camp as a young teenager. In 2010 he returned to South Sudan, but was unable to rejoin school and found himself living on the streets. In 2013, when civil war broke out in the newly founded republic of South Sudan, Charles fought in the army in the Upper Nile. In 2017, he was forced to leave again, back to Kakuma, seeking refuge in the adjacent Kalobeyei Settlement.
“In 2017, when my situation became the hardest, I was determined by all means to seek refuge in Kalobeyei, to access education and for the safety of my life. Because I remembered the place that helped me being a refugee.”
Charles had only been able to enrol in secondary school for months here and there, between working in community roles for Lutheran World Foundation and Danish Refugee Council, as well as a church leader. “I missed a good thirteen years of education, from 2009 until 2022”, Charles says. “And in South Sudan I was almost dead because of harmful practices and being on the front line in deadly wars. So it was difficult for me to come back to Kakuma Refugee Camp - nobody supported my life journey. I survived terribly.”
In unimaginably difficult circumstances, finding Amala was a turning point for Charles. With the flexibility of the Amala Global Secondary Diploma, Charles was able to work with Danish Refugee Council in the mornings, and attend Amala in the afternoon. Amala, he says, is uplifting students from zero to being able to make sustainable change and develop career pathways. Charles describes, through Amala, having found his purpose as a facilitator of learning for others.
“When I graduated from the Amala Global Secondary Diploma, my life grew: socially, mentally, physically and spiritually.”
After Amala, Charles joined Jesuit Worldwide Learning as a Learning Facilitator, and then Amala partner organisation Ki4Bli, guiding 31 students in Social Entrepreneurship. “It was a very good journey, developing my growth mindset, doing learning activities within the communities where we live”. Charles then joined fellow Amala alumna Rose Naboi piloting the SheRises initiative in Kalobeyei with Ki4Bli, along with other Amala graduates. "Becoming a lifelong facilitator is my way of sharing my knowledge and skills to those in need."
Charles is part of the virtuous circle that Amala creates: alumni becoming facilitators, facilitators shape new graduates, and the community grows stronger with every cohort. Alumni like Charles are not just building their own livelihoods. They are creating them for others, multiplying the impact.
As Charles puts it: "Amala is lifting lost hope for displaced, vulnerable and isolated youth by providing access to global blended learning as well as building everyone's successes."
Charles facilitating a class