[MONTRÉAL] Yesterday, I submitted an elaborate funding proposal to help finance a trip to South Sudan. The entire document fills 34 pages with: the themes I want to investigate, the contacts already established in Canada and South Sudan (and their letters of intent to collaborate), the objectives and expected results, the distribution strategies for the reports, articles and videos to be produced while in Sudan, the status of the research, a complete and detailed budget, and the Canadian perspective I hope to bring to the reporting. The proposal also included my resumé to show that I am capable of getting to South Sudan, able to cope with challenges the destination will throw at me, and that I will be able to acquire information, transform it into reports and have it broadcast or published.
Now there is little to do but hunker down and wait four to six weeks for an response. A favourable response, of course because it is not possible to consider otherwise but I know I must. “What is you plan B?” I’ve been asked more than once. What if the funding proposal is not accepted? Do I have a plan B? I’m working on one but I’ll keep it to myself for now until I need it, to avoid jinxing myself. An ace in the hole.
The process or compiling the dossier had the effect of adding the thermals under my wings gliding me closer to East Africa. At this point, there is nothing I’d rather work toward.
Before leading myself to South Sudan, I would have claimed total ignorance of the situation there. Its history, geography, economy were all vague or altogether absent in my mind. One has to dig to get information about this southern autonomous region of Sudan because no media attention is given to a place that has left war behind. All of Sudan’s media coverage is now focussed on the western Darfur region. The situation in Darfur deserves all the scrutiny it can get. But what will happen to Darfur when the killing is over and safety returns to the battered area, when the refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) return to their homelands and rebuild? How does a place recuperate from years of war and devastation? How do its people recover from large-scale slaughter, long-term displacement and distrust?
Since the end of Sudan’s 21-year civil war between the Khartoum-based Government of Sudan and the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, Southern Sudan is living through recovery. A protracted recovery guided by the three-year-old Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
Through this project that will (hopefully) bring me to South Sudan, I want to learn about the challenges facing the South as it recovers. I want to get familiar with peace sustainability issues rather than conflict. And I want to share what I find with anyone interested.
What are the challenges faced by the millions of refugees and IDPs returning to their homeland where basic infrastructure (schools, roads, wells, etc) is often lacking for the receiving communities already living there? What is the international community doing to help and what of South Sudan’s civil society? What crucial role are women playing in the South’s emergence into itself? What role are the media assuming as they emerge in South Sudan with upcoming elections and a secession referendum as mandated for 2011 by the CPA? What is the South Sudanese diaspora in Canada are doing regarding their homeland’s newfound peace, because from what I understand, many men who came to Canada as refugees—and who brought their families with them—have returned to South Sudan to participate in its development?
I’ll continue to dig into the issues from here in preparation for a visit to South Sudan, and I’ll continue to share my impressions as they evolve.
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In the meantime, here is a video about Sultan Jambo or “Kabara Bera”, the unofficial town crier of Juba, south Sudan’s capital, who drives around the city broadcasting information through speakers atop his pickup truck. He has become the fastest way to get an urgent message across Juba. Fifty-one-year-old Sultan tells eager listeners the latest news of the day and other relevant messages.
Juba Town Crier — UNMIS — 2:06
(source: UniFeed, 19 Sept, 2008)
