Father Bob North, who is currently living and working in Nzara, sent us this message about our focus on the crises in Sudan and South Sudan with a detailed update on the Diocese of Nzara as representative of the great swaths of South Sudan that are not involved in the conflicts going on.
I mention all of these developments not to any way boast but rather to point up the fact that many such things are happening all over Sudan. The Church is, despite the great challenges that it faces, to say nothing of the terrible conflicts across S. Sudan's borders and in its midst, moving forward. It would be well to remind your readers again and again that their are many positives that need to be acknowledged even as we face up to the negatives. Too much emphasis on the terrible conflicts that exist rather than on the peace that generally prevails hurts a new nations development. No one wants to invest in something that will be destroyed. Balance in reporting is what this new nation needs.
I
read with great interest the E Blast from AFRECS each and every week. I find
myself now in my 13 month of living "on the ground" in S. Sudan. What
I hear described weekly in such horrific detail has virtually no relationship
to what I experience daily. I, of course, pray daily for the persecuted
Christians in S. Kordefan and Blue Nile states across the border, for those who
have long lived in North now being forced to move south, and for an end to the
civil strife among the various tribes in Kuguli. I do not in any way want to diminish,
hide or ignore any of these conflicts, BUT....What is far too often, however,
missed or ignored is that the vast majority of this new nation of S. Sudan is
at peace. Even here in the south west where the Lord's Resistance Army sowed
seeds of unimaginable terror a full two years ago we have now been enjoying a
full 18 months without any major problems. The ECS Diocese I work for, Nzara,
is now reopening the parishes and chapels in the formerly LRA affected areas. The
Roman Catholics are doing the same. Our immediate cluster of five dioceses where
Nzande is the major cultural and language group is, of course blessed by not
having any oil discovered on its lands. Few of its people fled to Sudan they
went in great numbers to the Congo or CAR and have long since returned. They
are primarily an agricultural and not a cattle raising area. However, even in
vast areas of S. Sudan where none of these factors is relevant the people are
enjoying peace.
Development is taking place at a rapid rate. Everywhere the mud walled and grass roofed houses are being replaced by brick walls and zinc sheet roofs, the highways, while still horrible by US or E. African standards, are now passable and full of traffic. People who have spent their whole lives walking everywhere are now riding mini buses, bota botas or bikes. An estimated 85% of the S. Sudan youth are in school as compared to 15% just a few years ago. In just two years in our own diocese of Nzara, one of six new dioceses, we have built:
* a school that has increased from 30 to 175 students
* built two clinics that have only been open 8 months but now serve over 500 patients a month. In two months e have distributed 340 mosquito nets.
* a Training Center that now hosts a wide range of workshops to each women sewing machine skills, increase farmers yields, coach youth on their soccer or football games, train health outreach workers who can help pregnant women and HIV-AIDS affected persons, etc.
* guest facilities for foreign visitors who have come to build an addition to the Bishops home, help in our health centers lab, to train laypersons
and clergy to conduct small group spiritual growth groups and be better evangelists.
* a Computer Center with internet access and computer skills classes and started a truck business.
Development is taking place at a rapid rate. Everywhere the mud walled and grass roofed houses are being replaced by brick walls and zinc sheet roofs, the highways, while still horrible by US or E. African standards, are now passable and full of traffic. People who have spent their whole lives walking everywhere are now riding mini buses, bota botas or bikes. An estimated 85% of the S. Sudan youth are in school as compared to 15% just a few years ago. In just two years in our own diocese of Nzara, one of six new dioceses, we have built:
* a school that has increased from 30 to 175 students
* built two clinics that have only been open 8 months but now serve over 500 patients a month. In two months e have distributed 340 mosquito nets.
* a Training Center that now hosts a wide range of workshops to each women sewing machine skills, increase farmers yields, coach youth on their soccer or football games, train health outreach workers who can help pregnant women and HIV-AIDS affected persons, etc.
* guest facilities for foreign visitors who have come to build an addition to the Bishops home, help in our health centers lab, to train laypersons
and clergy to conduct small group spiritual growth groups and be better evangelists.
* a Computer Center with internet access and computer skills classes and started a truck business.
I mention all of these developments not to any way boast but rather to point up the fact that many such things are happening all over Sudan. The Church is, despite the great challenges that it faces, to say nothing of the terrible conflicts across S. Sudan's borders and in its midst, moving forward. It would be well to remind your readers again and again that their are many positives that need to be acknowledged even as we face up to the negatives. Too much emphasis on the terrible conflicts that exist rather than on the peace that generally prevails hurts a new nations development. No one wants to invest in something that will be destroyed. Balance in reporting is what this new nation needs.
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