Deng’s Story
“It was different, so different from what I remembered, says 42 year old Deng Athum upon his return to Southern Sudan, from where he had fled in 1986.

When I returned to my homeland after an exile of 25 years I saw where many of my friends and relatives are buried. I visited an uncle who I had known as a child and was shown the scars of torture beaten into a once lithe and strong body. Everywhere I see the uniform of the SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) and know that my friends have chosen the option of joining the army to protect themselves and their families.

The school which I attended as a young boy and which held memories of learning, games and laughter stood as an empty shell. There was no furniture; there were no writing or reading materials. The teachers have perhaps one book of literature that they carry with them from which to teach the children. The school buildings are crumbling and in desperate need of repair. As a teacher I am heart broken. This is not how it was! This is not what it should be like! The children here will not have the same opportunities that I had.

Communities that were once vibrant with families were now all but deserted. Why would anyone return here when there are no jobs, the medical dispensary has few supplies and our gardens are gone? People are living in desperate circumstances. They have little to eat. The women walk 10 to 15 kms to get water every day, as many of the water wells having been filled with sand or stones by the militia to prevent people from accessing them. The roads are deep with pot holes. The scars of war and ongoing poverty are everywhere. I am one of the Dinka people and I cry for my land. Something must be done to help us to rebuild, to help us to survive.”

These are the words of my good friend Deng Athum, a warm, generous and well educated man, who now lives in Australia with his wife Akon Dut and their 6 beautiful children. Over two decades ago, as a young man full of dreams and hopes Deng left his thriving rural community in Southern Sudan to study to become a Geography teacher in Egypt. He had hoped to bring his passion for education back to his people, to nurture and train them and was honoured to be the first young man from his village to receive a university education. The brutality of the war in his homeland prevented him from achieving his dream.

In January 2005 a Comprehensive Peace agreement (CPA) was signed between the warring parties enabling Deng, after an absence of 25 years, to return home to see the father he had not embraced since he was a very young man and the many friends, siblings and relatives who he remembered as a child. What he also clearly observed when he returned to his country, was the striking disparity between a country he remembered as a young boy and the country today, the indiscriminate impacts of war.

A brief history of conflict in Southern Sudan
Since the independence of Sudan in 1956, until 2005 the country experienced an ongoing civil war between the North and the South. Throughout this 49 years, there were some extended periods of relative stability (such as when Deng was growing up), however the past 25 years were particularly violent.

The war largely occurred because of economic and political domination of the Arab controlled North over the marginalized Southern areas, Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile.

Although the marginalized areas in the south were relatively united in their fight against the government in Khartoum (the north), congregating themselves under the umbrella of SPLM/A (Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army), some divisions occurred within the SPLM/A. These divisions were based on ethnic tribal grounds as groups vied for scarce resources. Regular conflict over grazing land, water points, and cattle raiding resulted. Intertribal clashes between neighbouring tribes such as the Nuer and Dinka of the Western Upper Nile and Lakes states became commonplace, leading to the loss of lives, property. Intertribal relationships became severely strained and peaceful co-existence almost impossible as a result.

Such divisions during the war exacerbated human suffering, loss of lives and property and continue to exist in the post war era.

The impacts of war and ethnic/tribal conflict
As a result of the war and ethnic/tribal conflicts the marginalized areas of Southern Sudan, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, have experienced and continue to experience immense suffering in terms of: human and material loss, destruction of social and physical infrastructure, and disruption of local people’s livelihood. This situation has contributed enormously to abject poverty and lack of development in the three areas. It was these changes that Deng observed. But there is hope.

The Wunlit People to People Peace Program
In order to provide a lasting solution to the protracted conflicts between the neighbouring tribes of Nuer and Dinka of the Western Upper Nile and Lakes states respectively, and promote long term sustainable development, Caritas Australia is working in partnership with ecumenical organisation CEAS and the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC) supporting the The Wunlit People to People Peace Program.

The Wunlit People to People Peace Program is designed to adopt a holistic approach to achieve long lasting peace in Sudan, which includes: provision of social services (including education and health services), peace education, peace building & conflict transformation and provision of safe routes for cattle movement.

For peace to be comprehensive and lasting, national and local issues must be addressed, particularly the resolution of inter communal grassroots conflicts.

The integrated Wunlit program has been able to successfully link the development aspirations of local communities with their efforts to live in peace and harmony, and as the program continues more communities will benefit.

Having received preliminary training from CEAS, communities from both sides of the conflict participated in the construction of schools, health clinics and water pumps by: identifying sites for projects; providing local goods such as building materials in the form of wood, and bricks; providing labour during the process of clearing the sites and construction works; and contributing to the joint management of the facilities through community based management committees.

Since the introduction of the program, 6 primary schools have been built and equipped with appropriate staff and resources. The communities have been supplied with medicines, equipment and staffing, for 5 Primary Health Care Units, and 12 boreholes have been drilled ensuring adequate water supplies.

Overall the level of local involvement has generated a common bond among the communities involved, a factor which is crucial in rebuilding conflict driven communities and an important achievement of the Wunlit People to People Peace Program.

Peace building activities have also included efforts to ensure improved governance and strengthening the traditional judiciary systems to prevent the perpetuation of internal tribal conflicts.
                                  
The people in the Wunlit area now enjoy both short term and long-term benefits. Basic services such as health and water provide short-term benefits, while education and peace projects provide long-term solutions.  Schools provide a basis for unity, peaceful coexistence as well as imparting knowledge and skills to the children that will enable them to grow into professional and responsible citizens. The Peace project will build local infrastructure that will prevent or resolve conflicts in an amiable manner and averts loss of lives, property as well as creating an enabling environment for development.

It is such projects which are bringing hope to people like my friend Deng Athum.

Anna Orchard
Communications Officer, Caritas Australia