Author: AmerFriendSudan

Dane Smith Becomes Executive Director of AFRECS Dane F. Smith, Jr. became our Executive Director in June 2020 after serving as the Interim Executive Director since October 2019.  In assuming the role of Executive Director, Smith outlined his vision of the mission of AFRECS: AFRECS collaborates with the Episcopal churches of South Sudan and Sudan in the promotion of a peaceful and just society through expansion of the beloved community. Toward that goal AFRECS facilitates expansion of the network of cooperation between Episcopal congregations in the United States, including the South Sudanese diaspora, and Episcopal clergy and laity in South Sudan and Sudan. AFRECS expands its financial support for discrete programs of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, focusing on trauma healing and education for civil war victims. AFRECS strengthens its relationship with the Episcopal Church of Sudan, focusing on education of pastors and laity. An AFRECS Board member since 2016, Dane Smith has been a consultant and lecturer on international peacebuilding, with a recent focus on faith-inspired peacebuilding. He visited South Sudan for AFRECS in 2018 and both South Sudan and Sudan in early 2020.  In 2014 and 2016 he was visiting professor at the Martin Luther King Jr. Evangelical University of Nicaragua, where he taught courses on “Christian Models of Peacebuilding.” In 2011 and 2012 he was Senior Advisor on Darfur in the Office of the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan. From 2006 through 2009 he was a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, Washington D.C., where he authored U.S. Peacefare: Organizing American Peace-Building Operations. From 1999 to 2003, he served as President of the National Peace Corps Association, the alumni group for former U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers. He was US Ambassador to Guinea 1990-1993 and to Senegal 1996-1999. Between those assignments he served as Special Presidential Envoy to Liberia 1995-1996. He was Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, 1986-1989. Dane and his wife Judy were Peace Corps Volunteers in Eritrea 1963-1965. He holds an A.B. from Harvard College and a PhD in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He has studied at the Union Theological Seminary in New York and is a lay preacher in the United Methodist Church. He and Judy have three children and seven grandchildren. Sarah Cleto Rial, friend of AFRECS, announced as Governor of Western Bahr al Ghazal State JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN – South Sudan President Salva Kiir issued a decree June 29 appointing governors for eight of the 10 states and chief administrators for the areas of Pibor, Ruweng and Abyei. Juba-based Sudd Institute analyst Augusting Tiing Mayay said,“Governors and administrators should immediately start managing their areas and play a major role in implementing the peace deal’s objectives of restoring peace and stability, especially in areas where inter-communal fighting has been raging for more than a month”. Sarah Cleto Hassan, the sole woman among the eight state governors announced by President Salva Kiir, is known among the South Sudanese diaspora in North America as Sarah Cleto Rial, a resident of Salem, Massachusetts. Sarah was a leader at the August 2019 meeting in Lexington VA of the South Sudanese Diaspora Network for Reconciliation and Peace (SSDNRP). NEWS NOTES COVID-19 in South Sudan At a Zoom meeting of the Anglican Alliance on July 1, Rev Joseph Bilal, Chair of Archbishop Justin Badi Arama’s COVID Task Force, summarized the situation.  Two-thirds of SS is peaceful, with violence still in Equatoria, especially the Kajo Keji area, involving the army and opposition groups not signatory to the ARCSS Agreement, and in Unity State.  Eight of the state governors have now been named.  There is freedom of movement related to COVID, except for worship which is shut down.  There have been 2,007 COVID-19 cases, with 47 recorded deaths and 251 recoveries.  There is a severe lack of hospital facilities and extraordinarily little Personal Protective Equipment. South Sudanese culture tends to dismiss practices required by COVID, requiring enormous persistence.  For example, failure to shake hands is interpreted as animosity.  In response to a question about what was most needed, Joseph Bilal said their priorities were to promote awareness of safety precautions through expanded use of social media and radio talk shows, to acquire sanitizing equipment, and to obtain megaphones for non-radio promotion of coronavirus safety.  They also need medicine, but he was not specific. AFRECS has long sought to help the Episcopal Church of South Sudan to build its capacity and raise its voice for peace and healing in South Sudan, and the current COVIS-19 crisis raises an especially poignant call for our help in this regard.  Recognizing that the ECSS is a trusted voice of truth and the public interest in South Sudan, Archbishop Justin Badi Arama has formed a task force to respond to the crisis and raise public awareness.  As Task Force Chair Rev. Dr. Joseph Bilal put it: “The church leadership and its congregation members; bishops, clergy, lay-readers, evangelists, youth, Mothers’ Union and faithful laity have an important role to play in raising awareness of the danger and threat of the pandemic and in promoting prevention measures by hand hygiene and social distancing.”  The Task Force is mobilizing all levels of the church in this campaign, and our support will be vital in helping raise their collective voices, not only quite literally in the purchase of megaphones for rural churches, but also for radio broadcasts and the printing and distribution of educational materials. Please join members of the AFRECS Board and other friends who have already committed support for the ECS COVID-19 Task Force. Checks can be marked “Task Force”, and designated online giving is also an option through the AFRECS website. From Voice of America South Sudan Focus What Is Causing South Sudan’s Inter-Communal Fighting?  By Waakhe Simon Wudu June 24, 2020 (Summary) JUBA , SOUTH SUDAN – Hundreds of people have been killed in inter-communal violence raging in South Sudan’s Jonglei state in recent weeks, and the cycle of attacks and revenge attacks is only going to continue if the national government fails to establish a rule of law that holds cattle raiders and other criminals accountable, according to one Juba-based analyst. On Tuesday, President Salva Kiir issued a presidential decree forming a committee to resolve ongoing inter-communal violence involving the Dinka Bor, the Lou Nuer and Murle tribes in Greater Jonglei. In his decree, Kiir said he expects the panel to ensure that stability is restored in the area within the next 21 days. https://www.voanews.com/africa/south-sudan-focus/what-causing-south-sudans-inter-communal-fighting From The New Humanitarian News, an independent non-profit news organization, which covers sub-Saharan Africa Return Pressure Builds as COVID-19 Hits South Sudan Displacement Camps By Joshua Craze & Naomi Pendle June 1, 2020 (Summary) Confirmed cases of coronavirus in two of the six UN-protected Protection of Civilian (POC) camps in South Sudan have led to renewed calls for the 190,000 residents to return to their homes, despite safety concerns as new waves of violence grip the country. [Bishop John Gattek, founder of the orphan school which AFRECS supports in POC 3, reports that there have not been any cases among South Sudanese there.] The UN’s peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, “strongly encouraged” residents in March to leave the overcrowded sites – a call repeated last month after two cases of the virus emerged in a camp in the capital, Juba. UN police officers have withdrawn from the camps to protect themselves from COVID-19, while government security forces have intermittently blocked entry to some sites, ostensibly to stop the spread of the disease. Calls for residents to leave the camps – both from the UN and the South Sudanese authorities – predate the coronavirus pandemic and have increased since the formation of a power-sharing unity government in February. But conflict around the country – clashes left at least 200 people dead last month in eastern Jonglei state – means many residents don’t feel safe going home, while others face returns to occupied properties or towns and villages still in ruins. Since the UN police officers (UNPOL), who manage crime in the POCs, effectively stopped patrolling the sites on 16 May, additional security issues have been reported in some camps. Interruptions to international travel and supply chains have also significantly impeded the ability of aid agencies to get both staff and medical resources into the camps. This puts many more people at risk as a host of other diseases are common in the POCs, including malaria, measles, and acute diarrhea. The government’s hostility towards the camps is deep-rooted. Since winning military victories in major urban centres in mid-2014, sending people fleeing into UN bases, it has accused the sites of housing rebels, and pressed for them to be closed. The mission has long complained that the sites use up too many resources, preventing UNMISS from fulfilling its mandate to protect civilians elsewhere in the country. One UN report in 2019 described the situation in the camps as “untenable” – citing communal tensions, the lack of economic opportunities, and social problems of crime and alcohol abuse. Despite the formation of a transitional government in February, there is ongoing conflict in South Sudan that has left many POC residents worried about leaving. Those who do want to leave the camps often have no home to return to, either in the towns or in rural areas. In Juba, many PoC dwellers have had their homes occupied by others, and it’s unclear if they will be able to get them back. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2020/06/01/South-Sudan-coronavirus-UNMISS-conflict-peace Please keep the people of South Sudan and Sudan in your prayers, as the pandemic further complicates their already very difficult existence. We urge you to reach out to individuals and families you are already connected with through email, WhatsApp and other social media. Please consider making a contribution to AFRECS, including the response to COVID-19.  To do so click here. Meanwhile stay safe where you are in the United States. REQUEST FROM A LEADER OF THE SOUTH SUDANESE DIASPORA NETWORK FOR RECONCILIATION AND PEACE Dear reader, I hope you are doing well and staying safe and healthy. My name is Sandra Tombe and I am a doctoral candidate at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in Virginia. I am reaching out to you to recruit participants in a survey that I am conducting for my dissertation project. My research looks at the relationship between political opposition groups and diaspora communities. I study these relations in the cases of South Sudan and Cameroon comparatively. I am writing with regards to my South Sudan case.  I would like to solicit the participation of individuals who meet all the following criteria: those who identify as part of the South Sudanese diaspora, who are currently based in the United States, and who are, at minimum, 18 years old. Would you consider participating if you meet the above criteria? My study has been approved by George Mason University. Participation is voluntary and anonymous, and all the information you provide will be used only for this research. The consent form, included in the link below, offers more details about my project and provides you instructions on how to proceed with the survey. You will need about 25-30 minutes to complete the survey. Please find the link to the survey below: https://gmu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6kQB1nl4QiIvIEd For those of you who do not meet the criteria to participate or do not wish to participate, would you consider sharing the link with others in your network who may qualify or be interested in participating? Thank you very much for taking the time to read this note. I appreciate your help by participating or by sharing the survey with others in your network. Best, Sandra Sandra Tombe Doctoral Candidate | Graduate Instructor School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University

Vice-President Machar Tests Positive for COVID-19

Riek Machar, South Sudan’s former rebel leader and now its first vice president, has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.  Machar’s wife, Minister of Defense Angelina Teny, and “a number of his office staff and bodyguards” have also been infected, according to a statement posted May 16 on the office’s Facebook page and attributed to Press Secretary James Gatdek Dak.

Children assisted by AFRECS with food and school supplies have lived in this United Nations temporary Protection of Civilians camp #3, Juba, South Sudan since 2013.

COVID-19 Epidemic Reaches Yambio 

Samuel Peni, Archbishop of Western Equatoria and Bishop of Yambio, reported on May 21: “We have now 481 confirmed cases, yesterday was the highest (134 in a day). We have no proper health facilities and people may be dying without any medications. May God help us. I am doing a lot of awareness in Yambio on Yambio FM radio.”

On April 23 the World Health Organization announced it was supporting the South Sudan Ministry of Health by prepositioning viral transport medium and personal protective equipment for collecting samples in twenty cities, including Yambio, Renk, Rumbek, Wau, Bor, and Kajo-Keji, and transporting them for testing in Juba.
(Read the entire WHO announcement here.)

Health and Mental Health 

South Sudan ranks No. 3 on the world’s list of “most fragile” states, behind only Yemen and Somalia. “Sadly,” comments Dr. Kenneth Scott, an investigator for the United Nations Human Rights Commission, “many of the adjacent or nearby states are also in the top 15.”

Civil war from 2013 through 2018 in South Sudan not only killed almost 400,000 people. It also left a nation of traumatized survivors in their wake. Millions live in camps or squalid conditions that add to the mental and emotional strain.

The entire mental health program for this country of more than 10 million people relies on one hospital ward equipped with eight beds and served by one psychologist. Less than two percent of nationwide funding is put towards the health sector, and no money is specifically allocated for mental health services, according to Dr. Felix Lado Johnson, the state minister of health in Juba.
(Source: Sam Mednick, TheNewHumanitarian.org, Jan. 1, 2019)

Nzara is Praying for Iowa 

Bishop Richard Aquilla, Diocese of Nzara, reports that so far they are free from COVID-19, but there is no movement within the country.  He expressed his sorrow for the situation of their companion diocese of Iowa, asking Nzara parishes to pray and fast for Iowa, and asking Iowa to join them in the Spirit and lift up Iowa’s voice to the risen Lord for His mercy.

This photo was sent to Ray Gaebler April 14 by Bishop Aquilla with thanks to God for peanut seed and tools for 1,000 families, purchased with funds from Iowa. Near the end of the dry season in February, a wildfire in Nzara spread to twenty-five square miles.  Thousands were left with no homes, food, or seed for a new peanut crop.  The rainy season for planting was coming soon.

“I Forgive Them”: Trauma Healing and Peacemaking

Concluding a 5-day trauma-healing training for 52 South Sudan military chaplains, held in July 2018 at the ECSS guesthouse in Juba, a chaplain named Hassan revealed the pain he had felt over the war in Darfur: “The cows ate all the crops, the people were beaten.  In camps outside South Sudan, we lacked food. I was bitter. Now I have forgiven.” A priest name Benjamin, despite having been beaten, arrested, and had his house demolished, said, “I forgive them.” A third chaplain testified, “I forgive brothers who are killing brothers on the roads. I pray that our country will be free.”

Archbishop Justin Badi Arama thanked trainers from Flame International (UK) and the ECSS Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Commission (JPRC), led by the Rev. Steven M. Mou, for their intense work with these police and army chaplains.

The Archbishop was asked by Dr. John Garang during the 1983-2005 civil war to serve as chaplain in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army barracks in Maridi. Now the Archbishop urged all chaplains to stand with people who are suffering and be truthtellers — wherever and at all times. “You need to work extra hard to change the thinking of our people in the Army and other organized forces,” he said. “Change the lack of nationalism in our hearts, and bring peace in the whole country.”

The Justice, Peace, and Reconciliation Commission, according to Mou, facilitated two similar trauma healing and reconciliation sessions in 2019. One took place in Wau, with support of University of Winnipeg Global College, Canada, the other in Renk Diocese, supported by Five Talents and AFRECS.
(Source: James Atem Tuor, Stephen Mayuen Mou.)

The Episcopal University of South Sudan and Sudan 

Archbishop Justin Badi Arama, the University’s Chancellor, is looking for a Vice Chancellor –. someone who can put together a strategy and implement it. He seeks the skills of ‘can do’ project management: finance, setting up an organizational structure (governance and staffing), bringing together the administrations of the participating colleges, and setting up systems for human resources, fundraising etc. A commitment of a minimum of three years is needed.

Support for details of academic infrastructure and administration is being sought both within South Sudan (through colleagues at Juba University, for instance), in neighboring countries (St Paul’s University, Kenya and Uganda Christian University, for example) and through The Episcopal University of South Sudan and Sudan Project in the UK or Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion in New York City.

Currently TEU is 100% dependent on funding from ECSSSUP, which mainly pays salaries of the staff, including Project Director Dr. Joseph Bilal at $700 per month. One of the first jobs of the new VC would be to get the finance reporting systems in order so that TEU is in a position to be able to apply for institutional grant funding.
(Source: Dr. Eeva John, Episcopal University Sudan Project, UK)

Appeal for Appointment of Governors, from a Voice in the South Sudanese Diaspora 

On behalf of the Coalition of Advocates for South Sudan and People of South Sudan (CASS), Reuben Garang on May 6 sent a message to the Government of South Sudan. Garang argued:

“Lawlessness is contributing to the starvation and food insecurity for over half the population.  We recognize that the COVID-19 disease, price of oil, general economy, poor crops yield and major floods of late 2019 all are serious concerns as well as lawlessness.  However, lawlessness can be addressed quickly by appointing the State and Administrative Area leaders with direction to take immediate action to curb crime.  Please give this your immediate attention.”

Bill Andress, a Presbyterian friend of the Sudans living in North Carolina, stated: “The Government of South Sudan has the responsibility to protect the people from massive criminal violence now.”

CASS followed up with a panel discussion on May 17 watched by 902 people. (See www.facebook.com/CoalitionofAdvocatesforSouthSudan)

National Government and the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC)

South Sudan’s fragile government and the peace agreement that formed it are in jeopardy after the country’s president and vice president disagreed on how to share regional states between them. A communiqué dated May 7, 2020, signed by President Salva Kiir, indicates that consensus has been reached on the allocation of states. However, First Vice President Riek Machar and a coalition of political parties distanced themselves from the document.

According to the communiqué, President Kiir’s former administration, the SPLM-IG, will steer leadership of six states (Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, Lakes State, Warrap State, Northern Bahr El Ghazal State and Unity State); the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in Opposition (SPLM-IO) under Dr Machar will lead three states (Jonglei, Western Bahr El Ghazal and Western Equatoria); while the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) will head one state (Upper Nile). The OPP did not obtain a state.  (The rule of the power-sharing ratio at the state level provides that the SPLM-IG gets 55%, SPLM-IO 27%, SSOA 10% and OPP 08%.)

“The allocation of the states … is that of the president and not a decision taken by consensus,” Machar said in a statement. “It does not take into consideration the relative prominence each party has in each of the respective states or counties.”

Alan Boswell, a senior analyst with the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group, said the disagreement between Kiir and Machar endangered the gains made so far toward a lasting peace. “South Sudan’s new unity government is facing its biggest crisis yet. Despite the attention of South Sudan’s international partners on the COVID-19 pandemic, quick action from regional leaders will be key so that this latest power squabbling doesn’t escalate.”

Ting Mayai, a researcher at Sudd Institute in Juba, commented, “Apart from the delayed appointment of governors, we still have not reconstituted Parliament…We have intercommunal clashes, threats of Covid-19, and floods. Those issues would have been addressed by state governments.”

South Sudan ended five years of civil war in 2018, but conflict between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar — who led the opposing sides in the war — have been major obstacles to completing the peace process. The two disagree over who will run South Sudan’s states and how to integrate different fighting forces. The civil war, often fought along ethnic lines, claimed an estimated 400,000 lives, triggered a famine, and created Africa’s biggest refugee crisis since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Previous South Sudan peace deals have held for only a matter of months before fighting resumed.

Please keep the South Sudanese people in your prayers, as the pandemic further complicates their already very difficult existence. We urge you to reach out to individuals and families you are already connected with through email, WhatsApp and other social media. If you would care to make a contribution to AFRECS, including the response to COVID-19, please click here. Meanwhile stay safe where you are in the United States.

An Update from AFRECS amidst the Coronavirus

On March 23 the Government of South Sudan closed all airports and land border crossings in hopes of preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Only cargo aircraft and trucks carrying food supplies, medical and humanitarian relief supplies, and fuel will be allowed to enter the country. It also closed schools and banned all religious gatherings. All South Sudanese were urged to take preventive measures to minimize the spread of the disease. Although the country has yet to register its first case of COVID 19, a number of cases have been reported in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan.

Religious leaders have responded positively to these measures. The South Sudan Council of Churches endorsed the prohibition on church services and fellowship gatherings. Episcopal Primate Archbishop Justin Badi Arama issued a directive the same day that on Sundays “all Christians should remain at home and pray from home with their own families.” He instructed that bishops, pastors, lay readers and evangelists should continue to “keep the light of prayers burning daily in the Churches to intercede for God’s mercy and protection upon the people of South Sudan.” He urged Christians to continue to speak words of encouragement and prayer to each other through phone calls. He also called for a posture of repentance.

As we know, the health infrastructure of South Sudan is extremely weak — and in some parts of the country non-existent. It’s easy to imagine that rapid spread of the virus could have a devastating effect, since limited facilities will be quickly overwhelmed and medical personnel will often not have the materials needed to protect themselves — a phenomenon already evident in Europe and the United States. It is unclear whether the South Sudan Government’s prohibition of foreign visitors would include foreign medical personnel prepared to offer assistance.

Program Work Continues

Despite the new restrictions, and with the help of faithful supporters like you, we expect AFRECS programs to continue to move forward to the extent possible. We recently transferred funds to Bishop John Gattek to support the Orphans’ School at Protection of Civilians Camp 3 outside Juba during the first quarter of the year. However, the closing of universities and colleges to include the Episcopal University of South Sudan, including Bishop Gwynne College, will mean that students will be unable to make use of scholarship funds until classes resume. And in Renk the savings groups for which we are providing support for trauma healing — in cooperation with Five Talents and the Mothers Union will likely be paused. However, we believe that they will be able to renew their activities when the pandemic eases.

Please keep the South Sudanese people in your prayers, as the pandemic further complicates their already very difficult existence. We urge you to reach out to individuals and families you are already connected with through email, WhatsApp and other social media. If you would care to make a contribution to that effort, please click here. Meanwhile stay safe where you are in the United States.

God bless you.

Dane Smith
Executive Director ad interim