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PEACE AND RECONCILIATION CONFERENCE IN SOUTHERN SUDAN
BY JOSEPH ADERO NGALA
NAIROBI – KENYA
APRIL 30, 2008
SUDAN TAKE 2
It is a sunny morning and a team of facilitators has gathered at People for Peace in Africa’s Westlands office in readiness for a trip to Torit Catholic Diocese, Southern Sudan.
The team consisting of Bishop Linus Okok of Kisumu, five men and two ladies leaves Jomo Kenyatta International Airport aboard East African Air Lines shortly after 3.30 pm local time and landed safely at Lokichoggio air strip before chattering another plane which took off shortly after 5.20 pm to Torit Catholic Diocese where the reconciliation workshop is to take place.
The plane touched down at exactly 6.07 pm at Torit airstrip and the team is met by hundreds of Torit residents who for a week have been longing to welcome them in their territory. Southern Sudanese love visitors, especially those who come to share with them their joy and sorrows.
Like other parts of southern Sudan, Torit is one of the areas that have suffered a great deal. People have suffered since 1983, when the Khartoum regime’s troops invaded the area. The ensuing battles between government troops and the rebel SPLA forces caused the displacement of thousands, internally as well as externally.
Among the people who suffered with them include Bishop emeritus Paride Taban who for more than fifteen years of suffering, imprisonment, bombing and fleeing has courageously continued ministering to and fighting for his displaced flock.
The fighting which pits the north, mostly Islamic and Arab and much better developed, against the south, which is Christian and animist. The war has contributed to a famine in 1988 that caused an estimated 250,000 deaths.
Teoddy Achilo Lotto, the diocesan secretary while introducing us to the conference hall at Bishop’s residence gave a little history of People for Peace in Africa (PPA) who has collaborated with the diocese for a very long time.
Some of the collaboration she said is working with women group, some of whom lost their husbands and relatives during the war. PPA took a key role to train trainers of trainers (TOTs) in Peace and Justice, Trauma healing and Reconciliation.
Bishop Johnson Akio Mutek, a Sudanese bishop for Torit known for his strong stand on Justice and Peace issue in southern Sudan introduced the workshop and remarked that a number of traumatized people in Torit and the entire south were alarming.
In 2000 bishops of Sudan were in Kenya’s coastal town of Mombasa and it took time for people to understand what trauma was all about. Tension is everywhere and just a click lights the fire, for people who have enjoyed 8 years of peace since 1972.
The people of Sudan reflected on the 1975-78 memories of what had happen earlier regarding slavery and this brought a lot of problems. It was difficult to preach in church about forgiveness and the way forward since silence only brought a lot of forgiveness and built in anger.
Later after the bombing of the diocesan headquarter into ruins and the youth came to build the whole place believing God would make changes, the revenge would not solve any problems and that education of the children was important so that they learn what happened in the past, experience they wish should not happen again.
Among the trainers included Fr Tom McDonnell, a Maryknoll missionary and native of New York a well known psychotherapist who has worked with traumatized people after Rwanda Genocide and also with Kenya in 1991 during the famous ethnic clashes.
He said the concept of justice that we see through our eyes people killing one another with Machetes is not God ways of justice. The riots and the fighting he said is destroying peace and brings about trauma. “I am here to do the beginning of healing with all the brothers and sisters in Sudan”, he said.
Day two of the conference was Fr Joachim Omolo’s, a member of the Apostles of Jesus to train. In his own right he told the participants that the teaching is not only for adults but also for the youth and children so that as they grow their consciences are well formed.
Peace Education father Omolo said is an attempt to respond to problems of conflict and violence. Justice and peace Education is not solution to the conflicts and violence and that is why it is an attempt to solve problems.
Father Omolo adds when we talk about conflicts it’s simply defined the conflicts and as Global National and Personal. He cited example in Kenya when there was post election violence with people claiming their votes were stolen and this brought conflict and violence.
It affected the neighboring countries especially Uganda, Rwanda where a liter of fuel was Ksh 100 and with the violence and conflict the fuel went to Ksh 400. So it was not only nationally but globally, as people were affected at the same time.
He also said that Justice and Peace education becomes meaningful when it adopts the social and cultural way to built and have a one nation, the question that arises is how can we utilize that and come to social growth.
He pointed out that Justice and Peace \Education is an educational response to human violence and aims at protecting children’s mind, build a peaceful world, necessary knowledge attitude and skills of how they can handle conflicts and how they can talk of justice and peace at schools, homes, churches and mosques.
He gave good examples of many African societies where conflicts have resulted to internal displacement and refugees have flee their country with the most vulnerable propelled being women and their children. Women have also been raped in such situations. Which is why we should not only talk about peace education but also look for solutions to the problem, there should be conflict management and resolutions so that justice is done, without which there is no peace.
The results from group discussion sessions raised most important issues such as exploitation of natural resources, lack of clear policy on oil sector and land ownership. Sudan is the biggest country in Africa in oil production.
They said donors have been very helpful especially in building hospitals, schools and more important for the Geneva Global Inc fund which through PPA was able to organize this big peace conference in Sudan. PPA has a long background with Sudan and also acted as the main mediator during the peace agreement which started off in 1991.
The topic for the third and fourth day was: community out reach, sensitization and education presented by Tanzanian born Mrs. Wasa Shoo, a graduate in Gender studies from University of Nairobi and expert in peace education and community out reach.
She said peace education that enable people living together, sharing, communion, coming together to fulfill the will of God, come together with a cultural background with a common purpose was the only way forward for a lasting peace.
During the training workshop one thing came very clearly that CPA didn’t address the ownership of land and subterranean natural resources however, the parties agreed to institute process’s /to progressively develop and amend the relevant laws to incorporate customary laws and practices, local heritage and international trends.
While the leader is active in defining agendas and setting out its terms, it is also paying, greater attention to addressing almost every aspect of peoples lives. This can be seen in the minute detail of the compressive peace Agreement (CPA) which the SPLM has signed with the Islamist government.
The most important political success of the CPA is that it has practically and effectively discredited the racist, religious propaganda of the NIF in wider regions in southern Sudan, while bringing dignity and freedom of expression to northern Sudanese armed movements in Darfur have taken a similar line, and wealth-sharing deals which Sudan, the SPLM/(GOS/SPLM 2004) and recently the Sudanese Liberation movement (SLM) of Darfur signed with government have effectively decreased the power of the ruling lslamists elite.
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
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Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:52:04 +0300
From: PEOPLE FOR PEACE
Subject: Regional News