Meet Rumana, a 26-year-old woman from Sudan. She just joined seventh grade.

As a child, Rumana didn’t go to school and so she didn’t learn to read or write.

When she became a mother, she realized that she couldn’t help her children with their homework or answer their questions.

This really bothered her. After discussing with her husband, she decided, along with her friend Madga, to start taking lessons at home to learn the basics. Soon after, Rumana and Magda were able to enroll in school in third grade.

Rumana’s husband refused to finance her education and insisted she stay at home and focus on her family duties. But Rumana was adamant to continue her education.

Rumana and Madga started a small ice cream business to earn money to cover their school fees.

Rumana and Madga are now in seventh grade. They continue to sell ice cream, take care of their families and go to school. Rumana has forged lovely friendships with her fellow classmates even though they are much younger. Nobody claims to be superior to the other, because education has no age limit.

GPE has been engaged with Sudan since 2013, and has focused on achieving education for all as an essential step to achieving socio-economic stability in the country. The US$76.5 million GPE grant helps to get more children in school by improving the learning environment.