A Halifax man who grew up in Sudan has kept a promise he made to the children of the war-torn African country.

When Jacob Deng was seven years old, Sudan’s civil war reached his village of Duk Padiet, resulting in the murders of his mother and five brothers.

Deng escaped death but grew up alone in refugee camps.

His journey to Canada started 10 years ago when Deng was 21. While visiting the Canadian Embassy in Kenya, he caught the attention of a Canadian diplomat and relocated to Halifax soon after.

After arriving in Halifax, Deng founded Wadeng Wings of Hope, a charitable organization that aims to make a difference in the lives of people in South Sudan. He also started a popular annual campaign to buy goats for villagers.

In 2006, CTV chronicled Deng’s journey back to Duk Padiet with Halifax filmmaker Noah Pink.

The footage included Deng’s gripping reunion with two sisters he hadn’t seen in 18 years, who long ago had assumed their little brother was dead.

While on the trip, Deng made a promise to the children of Duk Padiet, that he would return and build them a school.

“And they look at me straight in my eye and say ‘what will make you different from many people who come here, promise that thing, and when they left, they never came back?’” says Deng. “I didn’t have the answer but it was heartbreaking.”

In February, Deng had finally raised enough money through his charity to return to Sudan and make good on his promise.

Some volunteers went with him and, with the help of a few trained workers, they broke ground.

Cement block by cement block, the two classrooms came together over three months, at a cost of $25,000 each.

“Well, you see Citadel High School, it cost $21 million,” says Deng, referring to one of Halifax’s newest schools. “How many schools would I build with that in South Sudan?”

The school is built but it’s not open yet. Deng says Wadeng’s funds are tapped out and teachers need to be hired.

“But once you have them you actually have to open the school, pay the teachers, pay for the books, pay for curriculum, pay for the instruments the kids will use to do their vocational training,” says Wayne MacIntyre, a retired educator who volunteers with Wadeng Wings of Hope.

Part of Deng’s mission is to also change the plight of women and girls in Sudan, where educational opportunities for females are still almost non-existent.

“The statistics from last year show that only 400 girls graduated from high school out of almost nine million,” says MacIntyre.

Margaret Schwartz, a public relations student at Mount Saint Vincent, also volunteers with the charity.

Her father moved to Cape Breton from Ethiopia when he was 12 and she says that connection to Africa played a role in her helping Deng.

“It makes me want to get involved and understand and it touches my heart, you can say,” says Schwartz.

Deng is now married with three children and he wants to thank every person who purchased a goat through his charity and helped to build the school.

“I want to tell you they own it. It’s their property. Now, the Nova Scotia flag will fly at the school.”

Next on Deng’s to-do list is a national tour of Canadian universities, starting in London, Ontario in September.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jayson Baxter