Nyawiir Arop, 56, graduated in Social Studies from Cairo University

It took years of turbulent academic journey compounded with family responsibilities for 56-year-old Nyawiir Arop to finally graduate with honors at Cairo University.

Nyawiir, a mother of five, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Social Study in the Egyptian capital where she stays as a refugee.

She fled the Sudanese civil war to Egypt with her children in 2004, and later applied for asylum in Australia. But the application was rejected in the same year.

She eventually decided to live in Egypt, where she supported her five daughters by working as a housemaid.

After two of her daughters sat for the Secondary Education in 2012, she enrolled to school to pick up from where she dropped out in 1992.

Unfortunately, she failed in exams, but she tried again, sat in 2013 and passed.

In 2016, two of her five daughters were admitted to Cairo University in the faculty of Commerce and Law respectively.

When Nyawiir completed her secondary education, she had no plans to enroll in university studies. She returned to South Sudan in 2017 to look for a job opportunity.

“I opened a salon first and doesn’t generate any income, so I must change the activity to a restaurant,” she said to Eye Radio.

Meanwhile, as she worked at a saloon in Juba, one of her daughters submitted her application for admission without her knowledge.

“While I was running my business in Juba, I received a phone call from my daughter congratulating me for being admitted to the College of Art. I picked a plan and went back to pursue my dream.”

Nyawiir said it wasn’t easy for her when she enrolled at Cairo University and shared class with students her children’s age.

Her daughters had graduated and were working in South Sudan. She said her daughters supported her in the university.

“The main reason for returning to school was not only to look for a job, but also to encourage younger women not to give up,.” she said.

“Therefore, my decision to go back to school is to try to rely on myself and be independent from my children, and although finding job opportunities in South Sudan is difficult, I will not lose hope.”

“So, I ask them (young women) to spend their time studying, and trying to benefit from the experiences of some of the students who dropped out of school because of marriage to return and complete their educational path.”