Marg Huber, President of NAICR, reports on her fourth trip to the South Sudan, where, over the past two years, she has been facilitating seminars related to peace and conflict resolution under the auspices of the organization Music For Life (The African Children's Choir) - in Africa the organizational name is Friends in the West.  This group has partnered with the NGO Humanitarian Assistance for South Sudan.

The people of South Sudan have been in a civil war for over 20 years. The region is populated by pastoral tribal peoples, who practice animism (traditional spiritual practice) and Christianity.  This is a land of grasses and hardwood trees, where there are presently only a few miles of paved roads, where access is restricted by authorized permit, where there are extremely limited services and medical supplies.  

Over the last 20 years, South Sudan has been one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, with millions dead, 500,000 refugees and millions more living in displaced persons camps because their villages have been completely destroyed.  While violence still is enflamed in some regions, in the part of South Sudan where she has been working, Kajo Keji County, people are gradually returning to their land. They are starting to build schools and hospitals - but these become targets and risk attracting attention and being bombed.  These people are isolated and continue to resist the extinction of their cultures by assimilation from the Arab North.  Like many peoples around the world, their struggle is for self-determination.

In addition to the fallouts from war, those in the South have experienced multi level traumas over the years, including:

• colonization (British until independence in the 50's, then Arab colonialism and domination)
• cultural genocide (religious, social, political losses)
• slave redemption (at price or $50 per slave) (down from $100 in mid 1990's due to increased supply!)
• displacement from communities (mixing of people/tribes)
• child soldiers
• no transitions - forced and rapid change

In July of this year, the parties of the North and the South reaffirmed their commitment to a negotiated, peaceful, comprehensive resolution to the conflict in a Protocol outlining principles for a final Peace Agreement.  To date the Cessation of Hostilities has tentatively held, and has been extended to March 31, 2003.  Negotiations recommenced in January 2003.

There is a spirit of peace in the air these days.  People are planting crops - even flowers.  As they reconcile their many losses, they are looking for ways of rebuilding community - ways that incorporate their traditional practices, rituals, ceremonies, dances - all of which were labeled satanic in the past.  Until now, they referred to this practice of reclaiming culture as "backsliding".  Marg's work shows them that cultural "evolution" can include  embracing the past in a new way.  "I never miss an opportunity to tell them about our traditional people who are "reclaiming" their culture as part of their spiritual healing," she writes. "This, while they very much want to be a part of the world community and integrate more "modern" ways."

"Their ability to forgive is very strong.  As a part of their African heritage, under a principle known as "ubuntu," they consider that one's humanity is inextricably bound with that of others. Unforgiveness, then, is not being fully human.  But this innate willingness to forgive and reconcile has been suppressed by the many years of occupation and intrusion from the West.  Forgiveness now needs to occur at every level:  forgiving self, interpersonally, inter-tribally, and with the North.  People see the need to forgive as crucial.  Forgiveness allows them to rebuild."

Marg's initial "conflict resolution seminars" have become "peace seminars" in which she works with community and military leaders, headmasters and administrators, to implement their vision of building peaceful schools and teaching their children to become peacemakers: to live and protect the peace.  In exploring their traditional consensus practice of toyingakin,  Marg discovered that their stories actually bring this practice to life.  Now they are writing these stories down, in dialect, so they can make a book of them for the children.

The next round of seminars in early April will include county leaders. Following this will be seminars for leaders in other counties in South Sudan. The emphasis is on reconstructing community and giving peace some focus in people's lives.

Peace House
Some time back, the wife of Director of the Humanitarian Assistance for South Sudan, inspired by the training, proposed building a Peace "Tucl" (hut) - a place to hold the seminars, dialogue, resolve issues.  This circular hut that would hold 20 people and would symbolize togetherness and unity, as in their tradition of working in circles.

Marg supported this vision and wrote conflict resolution practitioners and peacemakers in Canada, asking for support. Sufficient funds ($3000) were raised to build the tucl. While this was happening, more and more local people got interested and they decided to expand the concept to a "Peace House" which could be a centre for peace for their community, with multiple purposes: a model for the region and in fact the nation.  It was no longer enough to accommodate 20 people: it needed to be large enough to hold one hundred people.

What You Can Do
The Peace House is now half built.  If you wish to participate in this grass roots effort, by contributing from $20 - $50, or making a pledge, whatever you can manage, the Peace House will be completed and the Spring training for the county leaders of all the payams - will be held in the Peace House.  It will be opened in ceremony with the slaughtering of a bull.  Marg wants to bring with her a list of our North American conflict resolution practitioner donors for the event.

Music For Life will provide you with a tax receipt for your donation.  You can donate via credit card by clicking here, or send your cheque to Music For Life, clearly marked: "South Sudan Peace House." Every dollar will go directly to the construction of the House, and after that, for library materials, transportation costs for attendees, chairs, bookshelving, training materials and site management.

Mailing address:  Music for Life, P.O. Box 3100, Langley BC,  V3A 4R3.

Time is of the essence. Rejoice with us at NAICR in knowing that in the grasslands of the South Sudan, Africa, there are people who share our commitment to a more peaceful world, people reaching out, as we are, to bring a more peaceful world into reality..