The Southdove Training Services Inc. has three primary charitable mandates:
(a) To advance education by building, establishing, and maintaining a training centre, and by providing leadership and literacy training, and Christian theological training in Juba, South Sudan.
(b) To advance education of youth by providing training in the Dinka language, and by providing financial support to those who cannot afford to attend language training camps in Canada.
(c) To address and prevent problems faced by the youth, such as delinquency, by providing mentorship and community engagement opportunities in their local communities in Canada.
Donations and grants support the at-risk youth empowerment and engagement, language instruction and cultural retention, and anti-racism and social inclusion programs, thereby motivating the youth to continue in the positive paths, increasing the graduation rates from high school and colleges, and reducing the incarceration and dropout rates for the South Sudanese youth in Regina and Calgary. The Southdove Training Services Inc. strives to address cultural inclusivity and retention and youth engagement and facilitates the Dinka heritage language training camp to connect first-generation learners with their culture and identity. The initiative will focus on creating a sense of belonging, acceptance and recognition, improving self-esteem, self-confidence and sense of identity to support positive mental health, and fostering the development of healthy relationships and healthy lifestyle behaviours. This grant will pay for the delivery cost for the Dinka heritage language instruction camp. The primary beneficiaries are first-generation Dinka children and youth in Calgary and Regina.
The Dinka are proud people who live in South Sudan and share their culture through the spoken words, cultural dance, and other expression of spiritual beliefs. The youth can expect both fun activities and Dinka language classroom instruction and traditional Dinka dance to impact knowledge and cultural learning through storytelling. Most Dinka parents in Canada want their children to learn Dinka language, culture and identity. The greatest threat to Dinka language in Canada is oral transmission. Most people only speak the language, but they do not write it. Even the parents who speak Dinka language cannot match up with the demand of literacy because they are already semi-literate in the language since they only speak the language but cannot write it. According to United Nations report in 2021, most oral languages are near-extinct because of high demand and quality of written languages for communication.
The Southdove facilitates both the spoken and written Dinka language instruction to support Dinka parents in Calgary invest in their children and youth by:
• Gathering the children, youth and willing adults together to learn language through writing and reading. This goal is achieved by facilitating the language instruction classes in Calgary and Regina.
• Gathering the families for worship and prayers to enable the children and youth experience the value of the language through speaking, interaction and storytelling. This goal is achieved by gathering at a church, St. Paul Dinka Anglican Church in Calgary. Children and youth participate in the conversations and observe the adults speaking and interacting in the native Dinka language during the worship and prayers.
• Facilitating community and youth engagement events and Dinka heritage language instruction summer camps, where the children and youth engage in leadership to enhance their identity, giving them the opportunity to gain cultural knowledge and experience.