Update from Dane Smith 

The news from South Sudan in late March is about desperate conditions in areas on the edge of famine, slightly tempered by some progress in bringing additional parties into the 2018 peace agreement. The World Food Program reports that in six counties of South Sudan 100,000 people are “one step away from famine.” Overall, 7.2 million are in a situation of severe food insecurity.  The area most severely affected includes counties in Bahr al-Ghazal and eastern Upper Nile.  Although in  places like Maridi, in Western Equatoria, wildfires have taken over from floods, destroying a diocesan guest house, heavy flooding is predicted again for later this year. 
 
The news from Sudan is about tensions with Ethiopia which are distracting the Transitional Government from dealing with the severe economic hardships endured by most Sudanese. At the beginning of March President Abel Fatta al-Sisi of Egypt made his first visit to Khartoum since the overthrow of President Bashir in 2019.  He conferred with Sudanese leaders about the problems posed by Ethiopian filling of the Renaissance High Dam on the Blue Nile. Last week Prime Minister Hamdok of Sudan formally requested that the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union and the United States mediate a solution to the dam dispute.
 
The dam debate has now become enmeshed in a border conflict between Sudan and Ethiopia which has flared since the beginning of the year.  Al-Fashqa (sometimes spelled Fashaga by the Western press), a strip of land between Sudan’s Gedaref state and the troubled Ethiopian province of Tigray, was placed on the Sudanese side by a 1902 treaty between Sudan’s then colonial overlords and the Emperor of Ethiopia.  In the 1990s Christian Amhara farmers from Ethiopia migrated to the area as laborers and then began cultivating the land. Recent flows of refugees from Tigray into Sudan drew attention to al-Fashqa, and Sudanese forces have reportedly reoccupied the enclave.  The Washington Post reported last week that troops have been reinforced on both sides, with Amhara militias from Ethiopia playing an aggressive role in the strip.  The Sudanese claim that Ethiopia’s prime minister is linking the border conflict with the dam dispute because of his dependence on Amhara militias for control of Tigray.  Troubles in the Horn have gained Washington’s attention.  Last week the Biden Administration, which has criticized Ethiopia for “ethnic cleansing” in Tigray, sent Sen. Christopher Coons (D-DE) a close friend of the President, to Addis Ababa to discuss “the deteriorating situation in the Tigray region and the risk of broader instability in the Horn of Africa.”
 
In church news the Episcopal Province of Sudan has just elected an Assistant Bishop for Khartoum to facilitate the tasks of the Primate, Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo, in his responsibilities for all five Sudanese dioceses. Episcopalians in Sudan have been suffering greatly from the COVID lockdown, which has made it difficult for the largely poor population to travel into Khartoum and other major cities to work.  Church leaders, the Mothers Union and international organizations have been giving priority to food security and income generation activities over education in the current crisis.
 
Rev. Joseph Bilal, Acting Vice Chancellor of the Episcopal University of South Sudan, told us in a recent conversation with US church leaders that churches and schools in the country remain closed, and that, therefore, teachers are not being paid. Colleges are expected to reopen in April. The Episcopal Church is working to mediate disputes between pastoralists and farmers in Central Equatoria that have sometimes erupted in murderous violence. Bilal said that additional resources are needed for that work.

Executive Director

Editors’ Note:  We offer you for Holy Week two images by Hilary Garang Deng Awer, artist and retired Bishop of Malakal, South Sudan.   War and floods drove Hilary Garang, born in Twic County in 1956, to Malakal and El-Obeid, before he studied fine arts at Khartoum Polytechnic. He created this charcoal sketch “Three Sudanese Men” on a visit to Ridley Hall, Cambridge UK in 2016.”
 
 
Focus on Theological Education:
 
By the numbers: Enrollments in the constituent Colleges of the Episcopal University of South Sudan
by Richard J. Jones, AFRECS Board Member

In December 2019, following a meeting of the Principals, the Newsletter of the Episcopal University of South Sudan reported the following enrollments:

Bishop Gwynne Theological College, Juba:  158 students in theology and religious studies

St. John’s College of Theology and Development, Wau:  393 students

Renk Theological College, Renk:  45 students

Kajo Keji Christian College, located in Moyo, Uganda:  students in theology 142, education 45, business administration 66

Chaima Christian Institute, Maridi: 79 students in theology, social work, and development.

Due to Covid -19, most schools were not functioning in 2000, but they anticipate regathering in April 2021.

Other theological schools also serve the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, including Bishop Allison Theological College, located in Arua, Uganda.  The 50-year-old Bishop Shukai Bible Training Institute in Omdurman, Sudan, serves the Episcopal Church of Sudan, including outlying centers in Kadugli, Wad Medani, and Port Sudan, teaching mainly in Arabic.
 
A personal reflection: Where Do They Go after St. John’s College, Wau?
by Susan Virginia Mead, Diocese of Southwestern Virginia

This is the story of a dream, friendships made, and partnerships which continue five years later with people in South Sudan.
 

When I taught at St. John’s College of Theology and Development for four months in 2016 and was staying at the ECSS guesthouse in Wau, the college was under the direction of the Rev. Nathaniel Maral.  Nathaniel was just then forming the African Christian Ecumenical Alliance (ACEA), a non-profit organization, operating in Wau and beyond. Some of their most recent work has been in peace and reconciliation efforts and advocacy for women, especially in the form of empowering girl children to end early forced marriages.  Nathaniel reports that ACEA has just built several buildings to house their staff and headquarters.  I am now working here in the U.S. to find partners who also focus on empowerment of women, to assist him. He has roofed the buildings — for less than $400! – and now seeks funds for doors and windows.

A relationship that began in the parking lot of a 2011 AFRECS conference in Richmond, Virginia, followed and sustained me while I was in South Sudan–and continues today.  By the time I arrived in South Sudan, Mariak Chuor, a former child soldier raised in Richmond, had returned to the Diocese of Gogrial to work on his family farm and to share his expertise in solar technology.  With funding from a youth group in the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia, Mariak had offered a week-long seminar at St. John’s College while I was there, teaching simple solar energy techniques and leadership strategies. Mariak continues this work today but has added basketball coaching to his resume!
 

He recently asked for help with raising money to buy forty-eight pairs of used shoes for his teams–and enough extra money to buy six basketballs.  Several sports-enthusiast alumni of Virginia’s Ferrum College have joined me and funded that small project, starting with getting Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors to sign memorabilia for the fundraiser.  Now one of the biggest stars in the National Basketball Association is thinking about the plight of youth in South Sudan! 

At St. John’s I taught sociology and peace studies.  Then from afar I witnessed the graduation of a theology student cohort go on to minister to their own communities, one even leading peace negotiations that saved lives after a revenge killing.  They used South Sudanese prayers published in a book I had purchased at an AFRECS conference and used in class. 

 

Upon returning to the U.S., I followed a number of other success stories: a St. John’s business program graduate, made possible through sponsorship by Virginia college students and faculty; a St. John’s faculty member who earned his Master’s degree in environmental studies, funded in honor of a nationally recognized water-quality expert from Virginia; a young man who helped ECSS visitors to Wau day in and day out, now advancing his education through a nursing scholarship at the Catholic Health Training Institute, but needing help with his food, books, and incidentals each month. 

As opportunities for South Sudanese citizens grow, it is a blessing — though at times overwhelming — to facilitate connections between people in the U.S. and these promising educational endeavors.

One ongoing educational partnership is with Hope House International, an enclave of more than twenty-five youth from the Diocese of Tonj, who were brought by the Rt. Rev. Peter Yuol to continue their schooling in Kitale, Kenya.
 

 

They excel as top students in their classes and even have become supreme prefect captains of their Kenyan schools. In addition to nine Hope House student sponsorships funded by churches and individuals in Virginia and beyond, their collective household in Kitale needs substantial funding each month for food and supplies. Having a strong home base has proven just as important as school fees for building a community of faithful youth who will return to South Sudan to further its progress. This partnership is expanding, as we now have volunteers from Grace Church in Lexington, Virginia tutoring Hope House students in Kenya over Zoom!

The key to these efforts?  “Connecting diverse communities through creating sustainable partnerships for cultivating prosperity and peace” –the mission statement of Diversity Serves, a non-profit formed upon my return from South Sudan to facilitate these projects.  We in the U.S. need to be reminded how easy it is to make an impact, even when we are confined to our homes through a pandemic and not able to visit.  We can make a difference on collective lives in South Sudan when invited to do so, all the while enriching our own lives immeasurably here in the U.S. — through divinely inspired connections.

Dr. Susan Mead is President of Diversity Serves, Inc. and Assistant Professor of Sociology at Ferrum College, Ferrum, Virginia, whose motto is “Not Self, but Others”. She can be reached at svm@diversityserves.org  or smead@ferrum.edu and tel. 540-365-4611
 
 
News and Notes
Wildfire in Maridi
 
The Diocese of Maridi faced another wildfire March 13-14. The diocesan guesthouse was destroyed. Deacon Patti Johnson and Dave Malson of the Diocese of Albany reported from conversations with Bishop Moses Zungo:
 

 
“Archbishop Peni led the bishops on an evangelism tour in December, ending in Maridi.  Then the Mothers’ Union had a conference, then they had the Synod, and then… the fires.  The rainy season had lasted ten months, and the water table was so high the crops were rotting.  Then it dried out, and the wildfires started.  In Maridi diocese, sixty-eight families were left homeless, one child perished in the fires (8-year-old), and many food storage places were destroyed.  The mango trees are not producing.  They are facing famine…   Bishop Moses said, ‘Satan is not happy with what is happening here’ because they have a five-year plan: “Transforming individuals and community”.  In 2022 they will be celebrating 100 years of Christianity in Maridi, so we are praying God will open doors for us to go in January for the celebration.”
 
The Episcopal Diocese of Albany (address: 580 Burton Road, Greenwich, NY 12834) has sustained a long companion relationship with the Diocese of Maridi, including the tenures of retired Bishop William H. Love and the current Archbishop of South Sudan Justin Badi Arama.
Contact:  albanymissions@gmail.com or Dave Malsan at crazydog6@outlook.com.
 
A Reflection from the AFRECS Board Meeting:
 
Can an Organization be a Friend?
Individual Actors and Group Actors under God
 
This excerpt from the 1867 novel Robert Falconer, by the Scottish poet George Macdonald, was presented recently by the Reverend James Hubbard for reflection by the AFRECS Board.
 
“Then Falconer began to see that he must cultivate relations with other people in order to enlarge his means of helping the poor. He nowise abandoned his conviction that whatever good he sought to do or lent himself to aid must be effected entirely by individual influence. He had little faith in societies, regarding them chiefly as a wretched substitute, just better than nothing, for that help which the neighbor is to give to his neighbor. Finding how the unbelief of the best of the poor is occasioned by hopelessness in privation, and the sufferings of those dear to them, he was confident that only the personal communion of friendship could make it possible for them to believe in God. Christians must be in the world as He was in the world; and in proportion as the truth radiated from them, the world would be able to believe in him. Money he saw to be worse than useless, except as a gracious outcome of human feelings and brotherly love….

But he must not therefore act as if he were the only person who could render this individual aid, or as if men influencing the poor individually could not aid each other in their individual labors. He soon found, I say, that there were things he could not do without help. “
 
 
Other News from Various Sources
 
Naivasha, Kenya: Peace talks between South Sudan’s government and opposition groups
 
Peace talks between South Sudan’s government and a set of opposition groups kicked off in Naivasha, Kenya, in early March.

General Paul Malong and Pagan Amum each lead one faction of the rebel umbrella South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA). It is made up of two organizations, the Real Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (R-SPLM) and the South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A).

In January 2020, both sides had signed a peace declaration in which they recommitted to the cessation of hostilities and called for uninterrupted humanitarian access to the local and international organizations and for abstention from sexual and gender-based violence.  In Naivasha they recommitted to that declaration and agreed to join the Transitional Government of National Unity at a date to be determined.

Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin, Chief Negotiator for the Government of South Sudan, reiterated the unity government’s commitment to dialogue and peace in South Sudan.

Pagan Amum, leader of the Real Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (R-SPLM), said: “This is time to genuinely learn from our experiences, from our few and limited successes, and from our so many mistakes. I would like to express our commitment as SSOMA that we have come here with open hearts and genuine commitment to seeking a genuine solution to the problem in our country.”

Paul Malong, leader of the South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A), reiterated their commitment to dialogue to reach a peace agreement. He thanked all regional and international partners for supporting South Sudan to achieve peace and stability.

The Bari leader, Gen. Thomas Cirillo, head of the National Salvation Front, remains a holdout from the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R/ARCSS).  His forces operate in the Equatoria region.

Abstracted from Radio Tamazuj 03/11/2021
 

 

Eye Radio
104 More people catch the dreaded virus
by Daniel Danis    03/12/2021
 

 
A total of 104 people has now died in South Sudan due to coronavirus after one more death was reported on March 11. The Ministry of Health announced 129 new cases it confirmed between March 10 and 11. There are reportedly three people under critical conditions, who are receiving treatment.
 
According to statistics released yesterday, the new cases are from 1,008 samples collected across the country. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the country to 9,334. South Sudan has so far conducted 119,507 tests since the coronavirus was detected in April 2020.
 
CGTN
UN: Urgent funding needed to address needs of 6.6 million people in South Sudan
by Grace Kuria   03/16/2021

The South Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan for 2021 has on Tuesday been launched, with the plan requesting US$1.7 billion to reach 6.6 million people in South Sudan with urgent life-saving assistance and protection by the end of 2021.

This year, South Sudan is expected to yet again experience devastating flooding which affected almost 1 million people in both 2019 and 2020. The ongoing sub-national violence and localized conflicts in many parts of the country, combined with the disruptive impacts of the COVID-19 on markets, services, and movements, are said to have led to a substantial increase in vulnerabilities.

As a result, S. Sudan is facing its highest levels of food insecurity and malnutrition since independence 10 years ago. The upcoming lean season from May to July is expected to be the most severe on record.
“Conflict, displacement, loss of livelihoods, inability to reach health care and lack of access to schools have created urgent humanitarian and protection needs, especially for women and children,” Alain Noudéhou, the Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, said.

“Throughout these various shocks, the affected communities have continued to demonstrate a great sense of solidarity. I call on the Government, development partners, donors and aid organizations to match their solidarity with unwavering support,” the Humanitarian Coordinator added.
Noudéhou stated that urgent funding is needed to prevent a further deterioration of the situation, adding that violence too needs to stop so that the people of South Sudan can finally recover from the crisis and rebuild their lives.

Devex Inside Developments: South Sudan

South Sudan facing highest ever levels of food insecurity

By Rumbi Chakamba     03/17/2021

South Sudan is facing the highest levels of food insecurity and malnutrition since it declared independence 10 years ago. An estimated 7.7 million people will need food assistance.
 

 
The country’s 2021 humanitarian response plan, released Tuesday by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), states that “the latest food security analysis estimates that the lean season [April to July], will be the worst … ever.” Approximately 108,000 people are predicted to be in phase 5, which on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, scale, indicates catastrophe or famine and is the highest possible classification.
 
Anthony Rama, Tearfund’s South Sudan country director, said, “about half the population is in dire need of food assistance. We have endured years of intercommunal conflicts and now COVID has … weakened our fragile health system’s ability to treat people.” Rama added that there are severe food shortages in all the geographical areas where his organization works and that it is now targeting relief only in those regions for which the IPC has classified the severity of food insecurity as phase 4 or phase 5.

OCHA is requesting $1.7 billion to reach 6.6 million people with urgent life-saving assistance and protection by the end of the year. “Our immediate priorities include sustaining our response in the most food insecure areas and preparing for the upcoming rainy season, which is forecasted to lead once again to major floods,” said Alain Noudéhou, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan. “But we need urgent funding to prevent a further deterioration of the situation.”
 
Crown of Thorns
 

 
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!

We continue to be grateful that contributions from you, our supporters, continue to nurture AFRECS in expanding our impact in the essential peacebuilding work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans.  As we approach the sacred time of Holy Week and Easter, we hope you will consider another gift of whatever you can afford in this time of COVID — remembering our Lord’s generous gift of his life for us.  You can contribute online at https://afrecs.org or send a check made out to AFRECS to P.O. Box 3327, Alexandria, VA 22302

Please Note: AFRECS’ former address c/o Virginia Theological Seminary is no longer valid.

This issue of the AFRECS E-Blast was compiled by Board members Richard Jones and Caroline Klam.

Update from Dane Smith 

We bring you in this issue a remarkable story of the Good Hope School in South Kordofan.  Funds were collected in Denver in memory of the late Fr. Oja Gafour, a Sudanese priest from the region, who served many years at the Episcopal Cathedral in Denver.  The funds were transmitted to South Kordofan by Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail, Bishop of Kadugli, where they were used for a well-organized activity to promote the education of girls at the Good Hope School.  AFRECS thanks Colorado donors and the Episcopal Foundation of Colorado and pays tribute to Bishop Andudu and the leaders of the Good Hope School.
 
A clue to the Biden Administration’s views on South Sudan came late February when U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaking as President of the UN Security Council, called on South Sudanese leaders to expedite implementation of the 2018 peace agreement.  Noting rising inter-communal violence, she urged the South Sudanese Government to “accelerate the peace process, lower levels of violence and work with the UNMISS [peacekeeping force] to protect civilians.”  She expressed concern that South Sudan was falling far short of ensuring that women constitute 35 percent of appointments in government, as required by the agreement, concluding that real transition of civil war required “full, effective and meaningful participation of women.”

Unfortunately, the US has not had an ambassador in Juba since the departure of Thomas Hushek in mid-2020.  Likewise, no ambassador has been named to Khartoum even though Sudan’s late 2020 agreement to a settlement of claims related to the 1998 terrorist bombing of Embassies Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and its signature of the Abrahamic Accords with Israel set the stage for a formal exchange of ambassadors.  These appointments presumably await the Biden Administration’s appointment of an Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and completion of an ongoing review of policy toward the Horn of Africa.

AFRECS is delighted to note the return to Juba of the Reverend Joseph Bilal, Acting Vice Chancellor of the Episcopal University and Chair of the Episcopal Primate’s Task Force on COVID-19.  Dr. Bilal reports he has completely recovered from respiratory infections for which he was being treated in the UK. 

Executive Director
 

A Brief Report on the Dr. Father Oja Gafour Fund for Hope Primary School
By the Rt. Rev. Andudu Adam Elnail
 

Hope Primary School is in Omdurain County, in South Kordofan State, Sudan. In the area controlled by Sudan People Liberation Movement-North (SPLM/N). The school was established in the year 2004. It is one of the Episcopal Church Schools owned by the Diocese of Kadugli. The second war in June 2011 affected the Education sector in Nuba Mountains and many schools were closed. Fortunately, Hope Primary School is still in operation but in a very challenging financial situation.

However, in April 2019, the Islamic government was ousted, and bombardment and battles stopped in the Nuba Mountains. The renewal of the ceasefire is continuing. There are still political tensions.

Last academic year, schools were closed because of Covid 19. But this academic year, schools opened in the normal time frame. We thank God there are no Coronavirus cases in Nuba Mountains. Thank God for the grace of health given to the Nuba People. We do continue to ask God for protection over the Nuba and other nations.

Relatively, schools in the Nuba Mountains are doing well due to the cease fire and the current political situation, which generated some peace among school children, and this has been reflected in students’ academic performance. All the eighth-grade students except one passed the national exams.

The school has 358 students enrolled, 195 girls and 163 boys in Preschool to 8^th Grade.  The staff includes eleven teachers, one water porter man, and two female cooks for the teachers.

The late Dr. Father Oja Gafour had a heart for the children and his people of Nuba Mountains. I worked with him for five years when I was in Colorado. Fr. Oja and I worked jointly with our dear friend Anita Sanborn of AFRECS. Funds were raised in honor of Dr. Father Gafour after his death and were transmitted to the Diocese of Kadugli to support the children in the Nuba Mountains. AFRECS transferred $ 6,202 to the Diocese of Kadugli Account in Juba. South Sudan.

When I arrived in Juba, we had a meeting in the Diocese of Kadugli office to choose one of the schools that would benefit from the fund. We selected Hope Primary School because it has a more significant number of female students.
 

I met with the school administration at Hope Primary School and shared with them Dr. Father Oja Gafour’s work with Anita among the Sudanese in the Diocese of Colorado. It was a good meeting. They have decided to use the money to cover the salaries of several teachers and staff, for some food supplies for teachers, and for materials to make menstrual supplies for the schoolgirls in Hope Primary School through sewing centers sponsored by the Diocese of Kadugli. Necessary materials for hygiene management during menstruation have been scarce to non-existent in Nuba Mountains. As a result, young schoolgirls miss several days of school each month, negatively affecting their academic performance.

On behalf of Hope Primary School and the Diocese of Kadugli, with gratitude, I thank Anita Sanborn for her work and support for the people of Nuba in diaspora and Africa.  And heartily thank AFRECS for facilitating funds and their immense support to Sudan and South Sudan.  May God almighty bless the work of your hand.

Rt. Rev. Andudu Adam Elnail
Bishop of the Diocese of Kadugli
 
 
 
News and Notes
 

 

Teaching Financial Management in South Sudan
By Larry Duffee, Member of the AFRECS Board of Directors
 
My first effort to help build financial capacity in the Episcopal Church of Sudan (now Episcopal Church of South Sudan) began in the spring of 2011. I taught classes on math and administration to students in both years at Bishop Gwynne Theological College in Juba. BGC was populated with students from various dioceses (only 31 then, now 61!), many of whom were slated to become diocesan secretaries or administrators and who could benefit from management training. Many of the dioceses wanted to apply for grants for projects but knew they needed help learning how to account for funds, or they would be unable to attract grants. What I found were classes full of bright students well trained in the rote memorization that characterizes traditional Sudanese education, but who needed help developing critical thinking skills to apply their knowledge to real-life conditions where problems were non-standard.
 

Beyond my teaching at BGC, I made visits to many dioceses where I taught pastors and administrators basic bookkeeping skills and how to prepare simple income statements or reports accounting for grant funds. I was struck with how eager people were to learn these skills and how well they understood the importance of managing their resources. I especially tried to get local pastors and staff to appreciate was the fact that they were managing a business — a business that, when the Church’s assets in terms of lands and buildings were considered, was one of the largest in the country and needed to be managed seriously.  I recall that I taught at the dioceses of Malakal, Wau, Aweil, Rejaf, Mundri, Lui, Maridi, Ibba, Yambio, Nzara and Ezo, and probably more.
 
Cultural differences became occasions for learning. When I would inform pastors how, when you enter any Church of England parish, there is a sign by the door clearly stating the costs for such things as weddings, baptisms and funerals, the pastors were aghast. They thought people would accuse them of wanting to profit off people’s deaths. I will never forget a pastor in Wau telling me how he had spent 12-hours conducting a funeral service and was not given so much as a bottle of water. In time the pastors began to understand that their time had value.  I used to advise them, “If you hire a painter or carpenter to work on your house all day you expect to pay them, so why should pastors be expected to work for free?”
 
Part of the problem was an issue of trust. Wherever I taught, pastors stated that talking to their flocks about money would raise suspicions, that congregations were wary of why pastors needed money. I encouraged them to be transparent about their church’s receipts and expenses to develop trust. At that time, the attitude in the ECS was that parishioners did not need to know such things. I was happy that not long before I left South Sudan in 2020, at least at All Saints Cathedral in Juba included in the announcements a statement of how much had been collected at the different services the previous Sunday.
 

 

I had gone to Sudan in response to a request from Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul at the 2009 Rumbek Partners’ Conference (attended by Richard Parkins and Buck Blanchard of The Episcopal Church in the U.S.) for someone with management skills to come help get the Province’s financial systems in order. The Archbishop wanted the Province to better support healthcare, schools, and leading peace-building efforts in the country.             I was supposed to be in Sudan for only four months. In the end I remained with the ECS nearly 3-years. My time visiting dioceses was some of the most rewarding and enjoyable of all this time in South Sudan. More than one participant stated, “For the first time since Adam was made, we have been given this knowledge.” Wonderful praise indeed!
 
The Rev. Robin Denney’s Webinar on Sudan and South Sudan
By Frederick E. Gilbert

 

Before she graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary and became a priest and rector, Robin Denney served as an Episcopal Church Agricultural Missionary during the two years preceding the 2011 referendum that led to South Sudan’s becoming the world’s newest independent country. Her work was to supervise the development of pilot farms for the province, train clergy, assist the bishops in conducting agricultural assessments of their dioceses, and conduct trainings in improved sustainable methods of agriculture with small scale farmers. That work took her to every state and diocese in South Sudan and gave her experiences and insights which she shares. In addition, she provides clear historical overviews of Sudan’s interactions with Pharaonic Egypt, Greeks, and Romans, early and medieval Christianity, its conquest by Moslem empires, its time as a colony of Egypt and Great Britain and its history since gaining its independence in 1956. This YouTube video is a recording of a live conversation she held with her parish on the 10th anniversary of the referendum vote (1-9-2021) and provides a highly interesting introduction to Sudan and South Sudan.

To view it, click on the link below.
Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY9YzW-uhfY
 
A Sudan Reading List
Richard Jones, Member of the AFRECS Board of Directors
 
1. Andrew S. Natsios, Sudan, South Sudan, & Darfur:  What Everyone Needs to Know
2012, Oxford University Press, 256 pages. Natsios served as USAID Administrator 2001-2005 and US Special Envoy for Sudan 2006-7.
 
2. Edward Eremugo Kenyi, Sacrifice and other Short Stories
2020, Africa World Books, 133 pages. Kenyi is a public health physician and poet, currently working at Johns Hopkins University; stories are set mostly in South Sudan and Khartoum, with one in Washington, DC and one in outer space.
 
3. Zack Vertin, The Rope from the Sky: The Making and Unmaking of the World’s Newest State
2019, Pegasus Books, 497 pages.  Vivid descriptions of Sudanese leaders and villagers woven into a coherent chronology of US diplomatic work between 2005 and 2016, as witnessed by a notetaker for the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan.
 
4. Francis M. Deng, War of Visions: Conflict of Identities in the Sudan
1995, Brookings Institution, 577 pages.  Sociological and historical analysis of ethnic and political background of conflict, 1860-1992, including detail on the Ngok Dinka.
 
 
News from Other Sources
 
Sudan Tribune
Church Leaders call for peace and stability in South Sudan
02/23/2021
 

The South Sudan Council of Churches called on the government to take steps to promote peace, security and national cohesion as the country celebrates the first anniversary of the creation of its Transitional Government of National Unity.

The appeal is contained a joint statement issued by the South Sudan Council of Churches, Civil Society Forum and South Sudan Women’s Coalition. Noted the statement, “This is not the first time we have called on the same leaders to fulfil their responsibility to their country and the citizens of the nation”. It added, “Unfortunately, these calls have not yet yielded any meaningful change to the ongoing crisis in the country and the living conditions of the common citizens.”

Acknowledging the reduction of military confrontations among parties to the peace agreement, including positive steps to hold armed forces accountable for crimes against civilians and the reconstitution of the executive of the unity government, the joint statement signatories said they are “deeply disturbed that the overall situation has not convincingly improved.”

The church leaders also expressed concerns about the “devastating intercommunal violence, displacement of civilians, sexual and gender-based violence, unnecessary roadblocks for extorting money and inflicting pain on travelers and humanitarian workers, alongside an economy that falters with soaring inflation rates.”

According to the statement, parties “remain recalcitrant to implementation of the 35% affirmative action quota” which obliges them to legally uphold women representation and participation in the peace deal implementation.

 
Voice of America: South Sudan Focus
Women’s Representation in South Sudan State Governments
Misses Mandated 35%
March 4, 2021   By: Seba Martin Murangi
 
JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN – Women’s and human rights activists in South Sudan say parties to the 2018 peace deal are violating a provision that calls for 35% of government positions at all levels to be allocated to women.
 
President Salva Kiir’s decree reconstituting Western Equatoria state’s government was read on state television on February 25. Out of 17 ministers appointed to the state Cabinet, only four are women. Out of 10 county commissioners, only two are women. All five state advisers are men. Although seven women were appointed commissioners on independent commissions, all five chairpersons of the commissions are men.
 
Tambura County women’s activist Clementina Anite said that while she is pleased the parties are finally forming a state government, she is concerned about women’s representation. “The concern is we are talking about our representation of 35% of women in all entities because women are educated in South Sudan and all-over public places like the market, you find almost 100% of them trying to make a living. The more we are represented, women can do a lot,” Anite told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus. “While most seem to agree women should be equitably represented in government, the appointing authorities often do not put that belief into practice”, said Anite.
 
Jackline Nasiwa, founder of the Center for Inclusive Governance, Peace and Justice in South Sudan, said the 35% participation of women provided for in the peace deal was “far from being met.” Out of the six reconstituted state governments, Western Equatoria state has the highest number of women appointed to high-ranking positions. “The few women who have been appointed so far make up less than 20% at the national and state levels. In some states including Warrap, Jonglei, Northern Bahr el-Ghazal and Unity state, women representation is 11% to 17% while at the county level, women make up only 2%,” Nasiwa told South Sudan in Focus.
 

 

Information minister and government spokesperson Michael Makuei denied Kiir’s office was part of the candidate selection process, saying it was the responsibility of the state governors and the chairpersons in the various parties to the peace deal.  “We had some allocation of portfolios. As to who would occupy them, [that] was not our problem. This was the office of the governor’s and the chairperson of the parties, not the office of the president,” Makuei told South Sudan in Focus.
 
Mary Nawai, who represents Ibba County at the National Legislative Assembly, said she is disappointed to see women so poorly represented in the new Western Equatoria state government, even though the law requires that women be represented as part of affirmative action. Nawai argues South Sudanese women are development-minded, noting most still manage to put food on the table despite the country’s economic crisis. She said women would perform as well as men or even better if appointed to government positions. “I am urging the state government to at least appoint a woman to the chair of the speaker so that we women can feel we are capable of holding top positions,” she said.

 
XinhuaNet
Safety and security of aid workers in South Sudan deteriorated in 2020
02/20/2021
 
JUBA– Nine aid workers were killed in South Sudan and more than 300 violent incidents reported in 2020 alone, the UN humanitarian agency said Friday. The deaths bring the total number of aid workers who have lost their lives since the east African nation plunged into civil war in 2013 to 124, according to a 2020 humanitarian access overview report released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Juba.
 
OCHA attributed the increase in aid worker deaths to intensified sub-national violence, compounded by the intensity of ambushes against aid workers. “An increase in sub-national and localized violence, including the resumption of politicized conflict in parts of the country, impacted humanitarian operations and impeded humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people,” OCHA said. “Based on available information, the compromise of humanitarian access in 2020 was mainly as a result of active hostilities and violence against humanitarian workers and assets.”
 
South Sudan was ranked the most dangerous place to deliver aid, according to the Worker Security Report for 2018.
 

 
XinhuaNet
South Sudan faces acute food shortages as harvest falls by 50%
02/20/2021

JUBA, March 5 (Xinhua) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned Thursday that South Sudanese are facing life-threatening food shortages following last year’s drop in harvests. In its latest assessment they noted that communities in nine out of 10 states harvested on average 50 percent less cereal and vegetables in 2020 compared to 2019.

“Our assessment shows that climate shocks, combined with continuing conflict and armed violence, make the transition for communities from receiving food assistance to independent food production extremely difficult,” Robert Mardini, director-general of the ICRC said in a statement issued in Juba.

As the lean season begins, it said, tens of thousands of families, especially in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Warrap, Unity and Lakes States, are struggling for survival without an adequate harvest from 2020 and following the loss of other food reserves to conflict, armed violence and floods.

According to ICRC, a renewed outbreak of armed violence or the intensification of conflict would increase the chance of immediate, life-threatening food shortages for hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese. And combined with the impact of COVID-19 and climatic shocks, many South Sudanese in remote and vulnerable communities face challenging months ahead in 2021.

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!
We are grateful that contributions from you, our supporters, continue to nurture AFRECS in expanding our impact.  You make a difference in the essential peacebuilding work of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.  We hope you will consider an additional gift — of whatever you can afford in this time of COVID. You can contribute online at https://afrecs.org or send a check made out to AFRECS to P.O. Box 3327, Alexandria, VA 22302

Please Note: AFRECS’ former address c/o Virginia Theological Seminary is no longer valid.
 
This issue of the AFRECS E-Blast was compiled by Caroline Klam.t was compiled by Board members Richard Jones, Steven Miles, and Caroline Klam.

Update from Dane Smith 

South Sudan

The UN Commission on Human Rights in Sudan reports to the UN Human Rights Council that, despite a diminution of hostilities at the national level, “unprecedented levels of ethnically based violence threaten to spiral out of control because of lack of justice and accountability.” The Commission said that more than 75% of South Sudan is experiencing “murderous violence” at the local level. It cited some of the most brutal attacks of the past seven years as occurring in the Central Equatoria, Warrap, Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, surpassing the level in 2013 when civil war broke out.

A modest step toward dealing with the problem may have been taken last week when President Salva Kiir named state ministers, commission heads, and advisors for Central Equatoria State, hopefully launching the creation of functioning governments in all 10 states — apparently a highly centralized process.  The input of the governor into these appointments is not clear.

In early February, the Government’s Task Force on COVID-19 imposed a new partial lockdown as new COVID-19 cases surged, including four new cases within the Office of the President.  However, little information has emerged since about measures to mitigate the pandemic.  Only 6600 cases have been reported with 86 deaths, but that is almost certainly a considerable undercount.  On February 8, the Ministry of Health announced that the country would receive 800,000 Astra Zeneca vaccine doses by the end of the month, but there has not yet been confirmation of receipt. 

In most parts of South Sudan students in the final year of secondary school sat for exams in December.  However, exams were canceled in Jonglei and Unity states on the pretext that insecurity made them impossible in these areas under SPLM/IO control.  However, a deal was apparently worked out with Riek Machar, and it was announced that exams were to take place in both states last week.  Primary school students in the Juba area sat for exams in December.

Amid tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia, the Government of South Sudan signed in Addis Ababa last week a military agreement with Ethiopia. The agreement reportedly focuses on exchanges of information on military security, curbing illicit arms and human trafficking at border areas, and cooperation in areas of education and training.

Sudan

On February 8, Prime Minister Hamdok reshuffled his Cabinet to include representatives of rebel groups which signed the Juba Agreement.  Most strikingly, the new Finance Minister is Jibril Ibrahim, head of the Justice & Equality Movement (JEM). The new Foreign Minister is Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, daughter of the late former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.  Before joining the rebellion in Darfur, Jibril completed a doctorate in economics in Japan. I became well acquainted with him during negotiations of the Doha Agreement on Darfur in 2011 when he represented JEM and I was Senior Advisor for Darfur to the US Government.  Two new ministers come from the military, while the rest represent the Force of Freedom and Change, the movement which ousted President Bashir and brought Hamdok to power.
 
Unfortunately, there appears to have been no progress in bringing the two rebel movements who refused to sign the Juba Agreement to a settlement.  SPLM/al-Hilu charged February 21 that “the government has no will to reach peace.”

One of Jibril Ibrahim’s first actions was to devalue the Sudanese pound, a major demand of donor governments.  The Crisis Group reports that protests have broken out in parts of Sudan over rapidly deteriorating living conditions, including rising prices of staple foods. Looting and arson caused several regions, including Darfur, North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Sennar, to declare states of emergency.  Of course, the immediate effect of devaluation will be to spike prices for imported food.  So further measures will be essential to ease the strain for the population.

Executive Director

SEE YOU THERE!
 

 
AFRECS will be attending (virtually, of course) the 2021 CEEP Networks Digital Annual Conference: The Church as Witness for a Time Such as This March 3-5. Look for our Sponsor “Booth” and come on in! Or search keyword; “Our Neighbors”, and you will be invited in.
 
See you there!
 
AFRECS School for Orphans and Unaccompanied Minors in POC3 Hopes to Grow from 350 to 500 Students
 

 
Since the School for Orphans and Unaccompanied Minors was founded with AFRECS’s funding four years ago, the School has become a magnet for students in Protection of Civilians Camp 3 (POC3) (now identified officially as an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camp).  The School’s student body has grown from the original 50 to 350, and hopefully soon 500, with each student missing at least one, and often both, parents due to the civil conflict that began in 2013.  The Episcopal Church of South Sudan, led by His Grace, Archbishop Justin Badi Arama, and with the assistance of Bishop John Gatteck, has created a school that teaches and feeds children from grades one through eight with 180 girls and 170 boys.
 
Despite a shutdown due to COVID 19 restrictions, the students were able to complete three terms of instruction, sit the examinations for these terms and receive their report cards. With AFRECS’s support, some classrooms were refurbished during this period.

 

 
The expansion to 500 students will require the construction or refurbishment of semi-permanent classrooms, along with a kitchen and storeroom needed to feed the larger number of students. The expansion will also include construction of a fence around the school grounds to protect the teachers and students, and provision of wash facilities, water tanks, sanitizers, and soap.

 

 
The School has not only helped to feed and educate students, but it has also been a successful center for learning.  Over 90% of students pass their final exams, and students from the School regularly are among the top performers on the nationalized standard exams.
 
We at AFRECS are deeply appreciative of all our donors and members for helping us to fulfill this critically important ministry.  We welcome your support as we continue to show that the Church in South Sudan can make a positive difference in these children’s lives.
 
Other News from Various Sources
 
From Just Security
U. S. Can Change the Calculus for Peace in South Sudan
by Brian Adeba (February 13, 2021 – condensed by Richard Jones)

 
For more than two years, South Sudan’s leaders have engaged in stalling tactics that have stymied the implementation of the peace deal signed in September 2018. While President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar prolong the implementation of the peace deal, opportunities for good governance are being squandered.
 
Intractable problems, such as inter-ethnic blood feuds and militarized cattle raiding, cannot be resolved due to the lack of political leadership at the state level. In the first week of February alone, seven people died in inter-ethnic fighting in Lakes and Warrap states. The chief of staff of Machar’s rebel army refuses to set foot in the capital, indicating he is not happy with the security arrangements. A hybrid court stipulated in the peace deal will not be established on time, and critical evidence required for the prosecution of cases may be lost, making it more difficult to hold war criminals accountable. The failure to reconstitute the National Legislature within the first few months of the deal means that critical oversight on government budgets and spending is missing. There are no checks on impunity. Leaders are taking advantage of the chaos to increase their own wealth at the expense of the people.
 
Intermittent pressure from the international community has failed to spur change thus far. But with the Biden administration now in place, the United States has an unprecedented opportunity to change the calculus of South Sudan’s reticent leaders and prevent a return to violence.
 
The good news is that the Biden administration does not need to start from scratch. The toolkit for these measures already exists. The Global Magnitsky Act, anti-money laundering measures, asset freezes, and Treasury Department advisories are tools that, if deployed strategically, can dissuade self-serving leaders in South Sudan from further stalling progress in implementing the peace agreement.
 
The first step is to go after the spoilers who are undermining the peace agreement. These officials engage in human rights abuses such as the illegal arrest and detention of journalists and civil society activists. They introduce obstacles to stymie the implementation of the peace agreement—by rejecting outright all the candidates for office proposed by the opposition, for instance. Worse, they are complicit in violating signed ceasefires and attacking opponents’ positions. Just last year, in November, government and rebel troops accused one another of initiating attacks against the military and civilians alike. To send a clear message that impunity for such actions no longer reigns, the United States should expand its use of the Global Magnitsky Act with targeted measures against more individuals or entities, for example.
 
Next, the kleptocratic governance structure that fuels the war must be cracked. By deploying financial pressures against networks—targeting individual peace spoilers, their companies, and their international business associates—concurrently with anti-money laundering measures, asset freezes, and advisories, the Biden administration could maximize the possibility of meaningful outcomes.
 
In the past, targeted measures by the Treasury Department have been successful in effecting change: they were partly responsible for cajoling reluctant politicians to agree to sign the peace deal in 2018. With the buy-in of allies Britain and Norway, which have been guarantors to the peace process since 2014, as well as the European Union and African Union, these pressures can be applied in a concerted manner to change the calculus for war in South Sudan.
 
Such a strategy could, for instance, be tied to South Sudan achieving short- and long-term goals with clear benchmarks that leaders must deliver on within a specified timeline. Now, an urgent short-term goal could include achieving progress on stalled elements of the peace deal—such as the creation of unified armed forces—and completing the formation of government at the state level. Future stability in South Sudan depends entirely on good governance marked by independent and effective institutions that can hold officials accountable, so a long-term diplomatic strategy could be connected to achieving progress on the institutional reforms spelled out in Chapter IV of the peace agreement.
 
Along with financial pressure, the United States could reinvigorate its diplomatic track by appointing a highly respected senior diplomat as a special envoy who would have clout and respect in East Africa and the Horn of Africa. That would signal to leaders responsible for the South Sudanese conflict that Washington accords a high priority to realizing a serious peace.
 
If the United States takes concrete steps to counter the incentive structure, the world’s youngest country may finally have a chance at peace.

https://www.justsecurity.org/74596/changing-the-calculus-to-support-peace-in-south-sudan/
 
United States Institute of Peace
What Does Sudan’s New Cabinet Mean for its Transition?
The Cabinet has a golden opportunity to build political consensus and address citizens’ concerns.
Monday, February 8, 2021 / By: Joseph Tucker  (Abstracted)
 

The announcement on February 8 of a new Cabinet in Khartoum—the product of a peace accord signed by Sudan’s transitional government with several armed groups in October 2020 through a deal brokered by South Sudan—offers hope that the broader inclusion of political leaders can help address Sudan’s pressing challenges and create peace dividends.

Twenty-five ministers were announced. The ministers of defense and interior hail from the security sector as previously agreed between the government’s civilian and military factions. Other posts have gone to high-profile political leaders—for example, Gibril Ibrahim from Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement has been appointed finance minister and Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi from the Umma Party is the new foreign minister.  

Building Confidence in Peace and Power-Sharing

For those ministers representing armed movements, it will be important to build trust with citizens that may view them as closer to Sudan’s security elements than the nonviolent street revolutionaries who ended Bashir’s nearly 30-year grip on power. A way to achieve this is for the Cabinet to begin implementing the complex October 2020 peace deal and ensure that the public understands the agreement’s national impact.
 
Urgent Decisions or Paralysis?

Having reached consensus on political representation, the new Cabinet will need to quickly show that its broad coalition of forces can work closely with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to address key issues. It is also important for the Cabinet to have the strong backing of Hamdok and key officials in his office to take unpopular decisions when needed. Some key issues are: unifying exchange rates and continuing to reform subsidies; engaging with military leaders to begin security sector reform that prioritizes citizens’ security; reenergizing negotiations for a more comprehensive peace that includes important armed movements from South Kordofan and Darfur; navigating legitimate demands for transitional justice and accountability; and outlining a foreign policy that defuses regional tensions—especially with Ethiopia and also due to the ongoing Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations—and reappraises Sudan’s relationship with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and other Gulf states.

During Bashir’s National Congress Party era, political and armed actors appointed to Cabinets were often viewed as collaborators with neither independence nor authority. Now, the opposite appears true; current ministers represent several sources of power and some can mobilize constituencies in support of, or against, decisions. It will be imperative for such ministers to indicate that they collectively represent the diverse landscape of Sudanese political, geographic, and social groups. More importantly, they must show through action, not just rhetoric, that such diversity can be harnessed to address the root causes of Sudan’s conflicts.

An Historic Time in Sudan

Sudan is going through a once-in-a-generation transition that touches every facet of life, from the role of marginalized communities in political decisions to economic choices that will shape the country for decades. Sudanese are creating space to debate issues central to the idea of Sudan as a nation, such as the relationship between religion and the state. Recent months have seen the reentry of Sudan into the community of nations through growing international support for reforms and early efforts to address the country’s staggering debt burden in the wake of the December 2020 removal of Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States.

However, the country remains beset with economic crises and food shortages and citizens again took to the streets in recent weeks to protest rising costs and commodity shortages. Sudan faces continued conflict in Darfur, growing political unease in the east and the specter of regional war with Ethiopia.

The Potential of Politics

If the new Cabinet can rise to the occasion, it has a golden opportunity to become a model for political consensus-building and equitable decision-making in Sudan. Whereas the previous Cabinet’s ministers were selected for their technocratic capabilities and seemingly apolitical stances, this new Cabinet is arguably one of the most politicized governing bodies in Sudanese history.  

A united Cabinet can show that astute political leadership matched with continued reform of government institutions can produce a winning combination for managing diversity and preventing conflict in fragile states like Sudan. The Cabinet’s coherence and its ability to define roles among ministries and publicly articulate an agenda for the transition will be important for the overall functioning of the transitional government. This can also set a foundation for strong engagement with the international community on possible support and mutually accountable partnerships.

A well-functioning Cabinet can demonstrate to Sudanese that politicians are capable of governing and reduce the perennial unleashing of military coups that have plagued Sudan’s prior civilian governments. However, if leaders carry political conflicts and ideological rivalries with them into the Cabinet, this could decisively imperil an already tenuous transition and restart the cycle of conflict that Sudan and the region can ill afford.

https://www.usip.org/publications/2021/02/what-does-sudans-new-cabinet-mean-its-transition
 

From Sudan Tribune
South Sudan issues new banknotes amid rising inflation

 

 

 
February 9, 2021 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s Central Bank on Tuesday issued a 1,000 South Sudanese Pound banknote as it struggles with hyperinflation amid dwindling foreign reserves.

Speaking to reporters in the capital, Juba, the Central Bank governor, Dier Tong Ngor said the bank will henceforth embark on a nationwide campaign to educate the public on the new notes.

“It is in the view of the need to make our currency more convenient to use that we are today introducing the SSP 1000 banknote into circulation to complement the existing banknotes to ensure convenience and bring about efficiency in the printing of currency to generate savings for the country,” he explained.

Ngor said the world youngest nation has, in the past few years, grappled with how to address a situation characterized by high inflation, including perpetual depreciation of the currency which has eroded public confidence and monetary value of the banknotes.

“This new higher value denomination will only partially restore the dollar value of SSP 10 in 2011 but is high enough to significantly reduce the deadweight loss and high transaction cost in making high-value purchases in a cash-based economy like South Sudan,” he stressed.

Several economists have questioned the impact the new banknote will have on economic recovery, citing further destabilization of consumer prices and acceleration of inflationary behaviors.

South Sudan depends on oil revenue for 98% of its budget, but production has since decreased significantly due to a political conflict which erupted in December 2013, causing most oil companies to cease explorative plans, and shut down operations in the oil field.

https://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article70453

 

 
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!  Help is always needed.

We continue to be grateful that contributions from you, our supporters, nurture AFRECS in expanding our impact.  You make a difference in the essential peacebuilding work of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.  We hope you will consider another generous gift — or whatever you can afford in this time of COVID  — as we begin our new program year  You can contribute online at https://afrecs.org or send a check made out to AFRECS to P.O. Box 3327, Alexandria, VA 22302

Please Note: AFRECS’ former address c/o Virginia Theological Seminary is no longer valid.

This issue of the AFRECS E-Blast was compiled by Board members Richard Jones, Steven Miles, and Caroline Klam.

Update from Dane Smith 

POC Camps Become Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps

Protection of Civilian (POC) camps developed suddenly and spontaneously with the 2013 outbreak of civil war in South Sudan, when terrified populations rushed to the bases where UNMISS troops were stationed to seek protection. In the emergency the United Nations decided to open the gates of these bases so that thousands of people could receive temporary shelter.  Camps developed in places such as Bor, Bentiu, Malakal, and outside Juba. Temporary arrangements evolved into semi-permanence.  These settlements, within the periphery of UN bases, were different legally and structurally from internally displaced persons (IDP) camps like those set up in Darfur in western Sudan a decade earlier.  Neither the UN nor the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) was pleased with the arrangement.  For the UN, the necessity to protect populations within the static confines of the camp diverted UNMISS from its wider peacekeeping functions; for the GOSS UN control of these civilian locations derogated from its sovereignty.  

Last November both parties agreed to redesignate the POCs as IDP camps.  The GOSS took over the UNMISS administrator’s roles and responsibilities in implementing the protection mandate.  Dynamic (roving) patrol duties are now shared by South Sudan police services and UNPOL, the UN military police.  Civilian leaders in the newly designated IDP camps have expressed concern that their security could be endangered under the new arrangement, but it is too early to assess that danger.  In the former POC3 camp near Juba, which houses the Orphan School run by Episcopal Bishop John Gattek and financed largely by AFRECS, the security situation appears so far unchanged.

Some Positive News 

In January, the GOSS took two important steps toward implementation of the 2018 R/ARCSS peace agreement.  After a ten-month delay, the appointment of a governor and deputy governor for Upper Nile state finalized the slate of governors for South Sudan’s ten states.  Disagreement between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar over the candidate was finally overcome.  The appointment permits the executive arm of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity to deploy fully.  The second step was Cabinet approval of creation of the Hybrid Court.  Article 5 of the R/ARCSS stipulates that a Hybrid Court for South Sudan shall be established by the African Union “to investigate and where necessary prosecute” individuals responsible for violations of international and South Sudanese law, including crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of gender-based violence.  A hybrid court includes both national and international judges.  No details on the new South Sudanese institution have yet emerged. Key elements of the agreement remain unrealized, in particular, creation of the legislative assembly and – the most challenging – reform and reintegration of the security forces.

US Special Envoys Still at Work

As of press time Amb. Don Booth and Amb. Stuart Symington, Special US Envoys to Sudan and South Sudan respectively, were still hard at work, two weeks after the Biden Administration assumed office.  When I spoke to Symington at the end of January, he was in Nairobi for meetings with Kenyan leaders and was heading for Rome for additional sessions between the Sant’ Egidio peacebuilding organization and the non-signatories of the R/ARCSS, Gen. Thomas Cirillo and Shilluk leader Pagan Amum.  Don Booth was then in Khartoum.  The two professional diplomats remain in place, pending the naming of a new Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.  Amb. Tibor Nagy, the previous Assistant Secretary, who met with South Sudan Episcopal Primate (Archbishop) Justin Badi Arama in 2019, stepped down the day of the transition.


Executive Director

World Mission Sunday – February 14 – Video Available: Savings Circles, Literacy, and Peacemaking in Renk

AFRECS supports the microfinance and peacemaking training provided by Five Talents at the invitation of Joseph Garang Atem, Bishop of the Diocese of Renk in Upper Nile. A new video offers glimpses of the women’s circles under a tree for prayer, savings, and small-business ventures, plus military and civilian personnel attending an indoor class on peacemaking.  Prepared by David Chaves, communications manager for Five Talents in Vienna, Virginia, this two-minute film concludes with a message from Bishop Garang: “God is still working, and the Church is still working.” The video is recommended for use in congregations on Mission Sunday, February 14:  https://vimeo.com/507607703 For details: davidchaves@fivetalents.org  tel. 703-242-6016. 

Other News from Various Sources

From The New Humanitarian 01/21/2021
Old grudges and empty coffers: South Sudan’s precarious peace process
Abstract from an article by Sam Mednick

On the streets of South Sudan’s capital city, billboards honor the country’s politicians for ending five years of conflict that cost almost 400,000 lives and displaced millions. But nearly a year after President Salva Kiir formed a unity government with opposition leader Riek Machar – now the vice-president – key parts of the agreement have not been implemented amid entrenched distrust between the two men, funding shortages, and renewed fighting that cost thousands of lives in 2020.

Many South Sudanese who spoke to TNH on a visit to the country in December questioned the political will for peace, while analysts fear disenchantment within Machar’s camp over the slow progress could soon fuel new outbreaks of violence.

Insufficient funding for the agreement is further complicating efforts. Dozens of mostly opposition troops have starved to death in cantonment and training sites as they wait to join a new national army, while peace deal officials in Juba have been chased from hotels because the government isn’t paying their bills – $10 million is owed to nine hotels.

As the agreement stagnates, a humanitarian crisis is worsening. Deadly violence, torrential rains, and a contracting economy have left more than 100,000 people facing “phase five” catastrophic levels of hunger, and tens of thousands experiencing likely famine conditions, according to a November report published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

Machar and Kiir shook hands and hugged last year when they agreed to work together. But trust runs thin between the old foes who have been squabbling over appointments for political positions – leaving most state and county posts unfilled and a new parliament yet to be established.

Many South Sudanese blame both men for the enduring crisis. A recently published report from the country’s National Dialogue Steering Committee, an initiative that gathered the views of tens of thousands of ordinary people, called for the two politicians to resign ahead of elections scheduled for 2023.

“They have… created an unbreakable political deadlock in the country, and they no longer have the political will or moral leadership capacity to move beyond personal grudges and egos,” the report stated.

Speaking to TNH via WhatsApp, Stephen Par Kuol, secretary general for the National Transition Committee, the government body in charge of implementing the peace deal, blamed financial problems for the implementation challenges.  Falling oil prices – South Sudan’s main revenue source – and the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic have left the government with “no funds as things stand now”, Kuol said.

Little has been done, meanwhile, to unify soldiers who fought each other for years. In Pibor, government army commander Korok Nyal said 150 soldiers from the ethnic Murle group left a training site in nearby Bor town out of concern they would be targeted by troops from other ethnic groups. In the southern state of Central Equatoria, another commander told TNH his men have no contact at all with opposition soldiers.

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2021/01/21/south-sudan-peace-deal-violence-famine



The Voice of America 01/25/2021
South Sudanese Still Face Threat from Unexploded Mines, Munitions
by Waakhe Simon Wudu

Many South Sudanese have been returning home to farm the land and live their lives after United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) workers spent years clearing huge portions of the country that were littered with unexploded ordnance.  Still, officials warn the work is far from over.

In December, U.N. mine-clearing workers detonated unexploded ordnance in Amee, a village located 135 kilometers southeast of Juba, but civilians still come across unexploded devices.

Okolo Joseph, a resident of Lokiliri Payam in Central Equatorial state, said his son, James Wani, 6, was maimed by a landmine last April while playing with other children, who found an unidentified object on the ground.  He tried to throw the object away and it exploded.

Among the unexploded ordnance U.N. landmine workers have discovered, removed, and detonated are Russian-made cluster munitions.  The were dropped by the thousands across parts of South Sudan during the 21-year civil war between the Khartoum government and Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

Charles Tombe, 35, who fled Amee village during the SPLA-Khartoum conflict, returned home in 2011, has been farming ever since. Tombe said, “The places they have cleared help us.  They give us freedom whether working or walking.  It helps us a lot.  And places they have marked as dangerous help and prevent us from encroaching them, because we already know they are dangerous.”

Since 2001, 1,404 people across South Sudan have been killed by unexploded ammunitions; more than 3,700 others were injured by the devices, according to UNMAS.

https://www.voanews.com/episode/south-sudan-focus-4555976

Radio Tamazuj 01/22/2021
Returning refugee numbers dwindle as they decry mistreatment at borders

More than 4,000 refugee returnees have returned to South Sudan between December and now from neighboring countries, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and South Sudan’s Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC). 

The UN Refugee Agency, in a statement yesterday said, 4,036 South Sudanese refugee returnees were verified to have entered South Sudan in December and early this year, a marked reduction of spontaneous or voluntary returnees from 7,981 reported in November 2020. 

 

 

Returning refugees, according to UNHCR and RRC, reported cases of extortion, arrest, and harassment by authorities at Nadapal and Nimule, border points with Kenya and Uganda.

“Fighting between SPLA-IO and SPLA-IG in Kajo Keji is leading to the interruption of spontaneous refugee returns. Lack of shelter in host communities as they await the dry season to construct their shelter and limited capacity by authorities to respond to COVID-19 positive cases among whom are spontaneous refugees at Nimule border point are influencing movement,” the refugee agency added. 

https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/returning-refugee-numbers-dwindle-as-they-decry-mistreatment-at-borders

 

Sudans Post  02/05/2021
South Sudan is now the most corrupt country on earth – Transparency International

An annual report by the German-based non-profit organization, Transparency International, has ranked South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, as the most corrupt country in the world bypassing Somalia, Syria, and Yemen which were the most corrupt countries in 2019.

 

https://www.sudanspost.com/south-sudan-is-now-the-most-corrupt-country-on-earth-transparency-international/


UN News – 02/02/2021; The East African – 02/01/2021
Next Steps Towards Hybrid African Union-South Sudan Court

The Cabinet of the President of South Sudan on February 1 took one more cautious step towards honoring human rights while preserving national sovereignty, as required by the 2018 peace agreement between two dominant factions in their seven-year struggle.  “Now,” said Yasmin Sooka, Chair of the Commission on Human Rights in Sudan, “the government must reconstitute the Transitional National Legislative Assembly to legislate for the three agreed mechanisms: “the Hybrid Court to prosecute human rights violations; the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing; and the Compensation and Reparation Authority to administer a fund for victims.”

“The Government should now take immediate steps to sign the agreement with the African Union and adopt the draft Statute creating the Hybrid Court”, said Commissioner Barney Afako.  The absence of accountability and reparation, including sexual violence, according to Commissioner Andrew Clapham, “undermines the fabric of society and breeds resentment.”

The Commission on Human Rights was established by the United Nations Council on Human Rights in March 2016, but its members are not UN staff nor paid by the UN.

Peace monitors from the African Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, for their part, pointed on January 29 to the failure of the Presidency and commanders to implement Chapter II of the peace agreement, which requires 83,000 troops to be integrated into one professional army. The training that started in 2020 has been adjourned several times. Some soldiers have abandoned the training centers for lack of food, shelter, and separate facilities for women.  The monitors urge the Presidency to “provide adequate food, accelerate graduation of the unified national force, and publish their redeployment plan.”

https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/02/1083492

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/unification-of-forces-in-south-sudan-3276048


Remember your favorite Valentine with a gift of love and life to our friends in the Sudans

We are grateful that you our supporters have continued to propel AFRECS in expanding our impact on the essential peacebuilding work of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.  We hope you will consider continuing your generosity with a gift in honor of a friend or loved one on Valentine’s Day. Your contribution makes a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters in the Sudan.  You can contribute online at https://afrecs.org or send a check made out to AFRECS to P.O. Box 3327, Alexandria, VA 22302.

This issue of the AFRECS E-Blast was compiled by Board members Caroline Klam and Richard Jones.

Update from Dane Smith 

Lawlessness in South Sudan: An Archbishop Speaks Out

A senior South Sudanese official announced January 5 that the President has directed the security forces to put an end to “road ambushes, cattle raids and intercommunal clashes” in the country.  The announcement came at the end of a meeting of the National Security Committee.

It followed by a few days accusations by Dr. Paul Benjamin Yugusuk, Archbishop of Central Equatoria, that elements of the South Sudan Peoples’ Defence Forces (formerly the SPLA) were robbing Christians in Lainya County. He cited an incident in which soldiers forced a group of Christians to drink alcohol and then set fire to the hut they were in.  He added that such problems were happening all over South Sudan because soldiers are not being trained or paid.  He said there were some soldiers living in harmony with civilians but others guilty of atrocities. (Radio Tamazuj)

US Diplomacy with Khartoum as Trump Administration Winds Down

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin visited Khartoum January 6, when Sudan signed the “Abraham Accords” with the US promising to normalize relations with Israel.  Perhaps more important to Khartoum was the signature as well of a Memorandum of Understanding making available a bridge loan of $1 billion to clear Sudanese debt with the World Bank and enabling Sudan to access perhaps $1. billion in Bank assistance.  Mnuchin met with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Sovereignty Council President Abdel Fatteh al-Burhan before jetting off to Israel.

Agenda for the Episcopal Church of Sudan

Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo, Primate of the Episcopal Province of Sudan, has shared with me the results of the December meeting of Bishops I mentioned in our last issue.  The bishops rejoiced in the change of regime in Khartoum, the lifting of sanctions against Sudan, the removal of Sudan from the US terrorist list, the agreement reached with rebel groups, and the possibility of normalized relations with Israel.  The Episcopal church has been distributing food in Kassala, Wad Medani and Khartoum.  The Province will focus on training pastors and the Mothers’ Union, while suspending for the present the ordination of new pastors.  It will develop a modernized Arabic version of the Book of Common Prayer.  It will do a census of Episcopalians and church properties.

Executive Director

Sudan in talks with Egypt & Ethiopia on Renaissance dam

Representatives of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan met virtually January 3 under the chairmanship of South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor to discuss the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile River.  Little progress was achieved, but further meetings are scheduled this month.  The Egyptian Government is pressing for agreement before Ethiopia begins the second phase of filling the dam reservoir. The basic conflict is between Ethiopia and Egypt, but the Sudanese Government wants to be sure its interests are covered in this difficult dispute.

Message to AFRECS from John C. Danforth, Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.

AFRECS recently received a note of support from John C. Danforth, retired Senator from Missouri, Ambassador to the United Nations, and former Special Envoy for Peace in Sudan.

“We Christians have been commissioned to a ministry of reconciliation. In no place is our ministry more important today than in the Sudans. The Episcopal Church has a responsibility to hold together all the people of God.”
-John C. Danforth, Special Envoy for Peace to Sudan, 2001-2005

We are grateful for Senator Danforth’s past diplomatic labor and his ongoing commitment to the peacemaking work of the church in the Sudans.

10^th Anniversary of S. Sudan’s Independence Referendum
by Lawrence R. Duffee, AFRECS Board Member

No one knew how the Referendum would go when voting began on January 9, 2011, leading to independence for South Sudan on July 9 of that year.

Would the vote happen at all? Incidents of insecurity might be all the excuse dictator Omar al-Bashir needed to postpone the vote. Or logistical challenges of distributing millions of ballots in a country without roads or verifying voting eligibility for people without birth certificates and IDs. The Sudanese had seen terrible violence in Kenya following an election there in 2007, and after voting in Sudan in April 2010 some small violence occurred.  I was serving with the Episcopal Church of Sudan (pre-ECSS!) at the Provincial office in Juba. So many unknowns, and yet Referendum Day arrived – a Sunday.

Citizens waiting in line to vote in the Referendum.

At All Saints Cathedral prayers were offered for peaceful voting and for an outcome, regardless of what it was, accepted by all. In the afternoon we visited an elementary school in downtown Juba to observe His Grace, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, vote. Joining him would be Archbishop Paulino, head of the Roman Catholic Church in Sudan. Having both Archbishops vote together was thought an important symbol for all to feel safe in voting.

Long queues of men and women – the sexes voted separately – waited patiently. From the length of the lines it was clear some people had waited hours to vote. The Archbishops were whisked directly inside, and once their IDs had been checked each was allowed to vote. Voting was accomplished by using an ink-stained finger to choose the box showing two hands clasped (remain united) or one hand waving (separation.)

After the vote both Archbishops visited outside with other religious leaders. Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Roslyn visited the school as part of the Carter Center’s efforts to monitor the vote. I was privileged to shake Mr. Carter’s hand, a thrill I will always remember.

Juba was flooded with international journalists. My sense was that many wanted to document the carnage they expected to happen. But the voting continued with hardly a hitch for nearly a week, enough time for everyone to reach the polling places. By mid-week most of the journalists were gone, having missed the greatest story of all — a wide-spread, peaceful vote in one of the least developed places on earth.

A week later, with Rev. Canon Ian Woodward of Salisbury who was visiting Juba, I watched some of the votes being counted. In the end some 99 percent of those eligible had voted, and 98 percent of these voted for separation. The Referendum was a victory for the diplomacy that allowed the vote to happen, and a display of confidence and determination by the people of the South to chart their own way.

Additional memories: Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY9YzW-uhfY for a 1-hour video by the Rev. Robin Denney, provincial agricultural advisor in the ECS and now rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Napa, California.

Report from the Episcopal University of South Sudan

The rollout of the new Rokon campus has been slowed by the illness of University developer Dr. Joseph Zebedayo Bilal, reports Dr. Eeva John of Sudan University Partners.  Joseph has been flown to the UK for treatment of serious malaria and complications. He is recovering well and expects to return to Juba in March or earlier. Supporters in the UK are organizing for Joseph a supply of anti-malarial drugs, which are exorbitantly expensive in Juba. High on his agenda on his return will be to arrange a site visit for EMI, the Uganda-based Christian engineering organization that is planning the new campus.

Future site of the new campus in Rokon of the Episcopal University of South Sudan
(Facebook bit.ly/2shwHkI)

Government licensing of the new university is proving to be a slow process. The GOSS is now requiring that faculty credentials be certified by the government concerned. Thus Dr. Bilal, whose degree is from Britain, is seeking a certificate of authentication from the UK government. Eeva John and her daughter are also seeking authentication in order to be part-time faculty at EUSS.

“Please pray for Joseph’s continued recovery and for all obstacles to be removed so that the University and its new campus may have a glorious beginning,” said the Rev. Rick Houghton, AFRECS Board member.

ECSS and ECS have Good Friends in the United Kingdom
by Richard Jones, AFRECS Board Member

Church Association for Sudan and South Sudan (CASS) is the new name for what was formerly the Sudan Church Association, with the Archbishop of Sudan as patron, three Church of England bishops (including Salisbury and Bradford) as Vice-Presidents, the Venerable Michael Paget-Wilkes as longtime chairman and Canon Ian Woodward as a committee member.

Current Co-Chairs are the Revd Ian Wallace of Bristol UK and the Revd Pauline Walker. Their new website is http://www.cass.org.uk. CASS continues to publish twice year a handsome magazine with the long-familiar title SUDAN CHURCH REVIEW. The autumn 2020 issue has a number of informative articles, including one on the Episcopal University of South Sudan’s new location at Rokon.

To become a member of CASS and receive publications or e-mail, contact the membership secretary andrew.m.persson@gmail.com mailto:andrew.m.persson@gmail.com . A minimum donation of 20 British pounds per year is required.

Other News from Various Sources

Voice of America, January 7, 2021
Signature of the Abrahamic Accords Enables Sudan to Clear World Bank Arrears

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was in Khartoum Wednesday, Jan 6, where he and Sudanese Justice Minister Nasereldin Abdulbari signed the Abrahamic Accords to normalize relations with Israel and a Memorandum of Understanding under which the US will provide a $1 billion bridge loan to clear Sudanese debt to the World Bank and enable Bank lending of $1.6 bill.

The VOA reported the event as follows January 7:
KHARTOUM – Sudan has officially signed the Abraham Accords, agreeing to normalize relations with Israel.  The deal paves the way for Sudan to relieve its massive debt to the World Bank.

The historic signing took place at the U.S embassy in Khartoum Wednesday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin signed on behalf of Washington, while Sudanese Minister of Justice Nasereldin Abdelbari signed on behalf of Khartoum.

Speaking to reporters after the signing, Abdelbari said Khartoum welcomes the rapprochement and the diplomatic ties between Sudan and Israel that Sudan will boost for its own benefit and for other countries in the region. He said Khartoum appreciates Mnuchin’s historical visit and hopes to strengthen ties between Sudan and the U.S.

In his brief statement, Mnuchin said it was “a great honor to be here with you today, and I think this will have a tremendous impact on the people of Israel and the people of Sudan as they continue to work together on cultural and economic opportunities.”

The Abraham Accords are a series of U.S.-brokered agreements calling for the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and now, Sudan, to normalize relations with Israel after decades of broken ties.

Sudan agreed to sign the accords in part so the United States would remove the country from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation that has blocked Sudan’s access to international loans.  In late December, the U.S. removed Sudan from the list.

https://www.voanews.com/episode/south-sudan-focus-4541156

Associated Press, January 2021
Rare conviction of South Sudan soldiers for rape raises hope
By Sam Mednick

First, the soldiers stole their belongings. Then they took their food. On their third and final visit, the woman said, the soldiers raped her and her daughter-in-law until they were unable to walk.

What sets these assaults in South Sudan apart from many other rapes by soldiers is this: The women brought the men to court and won. The 48-year-old mother of four reported the rape in May to South Sudan’s army chief when he visited her village of Adio .A new army chief of staff, responding to growing frustration with such crimes, sent military judges from Juba to oversee the case and those of 10 other women and girls who also came forward. In the end, 26 soldiers were convicted, some for rape but others for offenses including looting. It was the first time soldiers had been convicted of rape since the 2016 rampage at the Terrain Hotel, where five international aid workers were gang-raped and a local journalist was killed.

The September conviction has raised hopes that such crimes will increasingly be prosecuted.

https://apnews.com/article/africa-south-sudan-crime-d1349141044a4fae7257588cb8ad4d05

From Anadolu Agency, January 14, 2021
by Benjamin Takpiny

South Sudan’s flood victims hit by food, water shortage
Juba, South Sudan

People who fled devastating floods in South Sudan’s Jonglei state to Mangalla in Central Equatoria state said they are now facing a new challenge — a severe lack of food and water. Waterborne diseases are also creating a nightmare among the group of about 96,000 people, Atem Akuoch, one of its leaders, told Anadolu Agency.

While some of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are forced to trek long distances in search of clean water, others have resorted to drinking contaminated water from the River Nile, leading to disease outbreaks among them, he said.

The IDPs, mostly from Jonglei, fled floods in their area last year. Countrywide, the floods have affected over one million people. Most homes from the town of Bor to Twic East have been submerged in a devastating flood, displacing 200,000 people. The water level in Jonglei state has risen 1.5 meters (4.9 feet). Aid agencies believe the floods will aggravate food crises in the region.

“Their being in Mangalla is not their fault,” said David Garang Goch, chairperson of the Jonglei Civil Society. “They have been displaced by floods which are a national natural disaster. Let the government of South Sudan and humanitarian agencies come in and ensure access to food, drinking water, and medical services. They are really suffering.”

Goch said access to health facilities is also a problem for the group. “It’s a terrible situation without food, water and medical services. Those people are in dire need of humanitarian services,” he said.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/south-sudans-flood-victims-hit-by-food-water-shortage/2109460

Cattle herder in South Sudan

Voice of America, January 6, 2021
South Sudan Religious Leaders Hold Talks Aimed at Ending Intercommunal Fighting
by Daniel F. Martin

With an eye toward ending intercommunal violence that killed dozens of people last month in Central Equatoria state, South Sudanese religious leaders and civil society activists have organized direct peace and reconciliation talks between various communities.

Some meetings already have taken place in rural villages of Terekeka County and included chiefs, women, youth, farmers, and cattle camp leaders. Cattle raids are a chronic problem in parts of South Sudan, separate from the civil war that killed tens of thousands between 2013 and 2017.

Paul Yugugusuk, archbishop of the Central Equatoria province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, blames the increased violence in certain areas, particularly in Terekeka and Lainya counties, on a lack of clear laws on the movement of cattle and justice for victims of cattle raids

“We cannot do our work when people are fighting” he said.  “Now that there is an ongoing peace dialogue in Rome, although it’s going slowly, we call on the conflicting communities, armed and non-armed actors, the opposition and the government, to join hands for the revitalized peace agreement so that the implementation becomes easy.”

https://www.voanews.com/africa/south-sudan-focus/south-sudan-religious-leaders-hold-talks-aimed-ending-intercommunal

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!

We continue to be grateful that contributions from you, our supporters, continue to nurture AFRECS in expanding our impact.  You make a difference in the essential peacebuilding work of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.  We hope you will consider another generous gift — or whatever you can afford in this time of COVID  — as we begin our new program year  You can contribute online at https://afrecs.org or send a check made out to AFRECS to P.O. Box 3327, Alexandria, VA 22302
Please Note: AFRECS’ former address c/o Virginia Theological Seminary is no longer valid.

This issue of the AFRECS E-Blast was compiled by Board members Frederick L. Houghton and Caroline Klam.

Update from Dane Smith 

Lawlessness in South Sudan: An Archbishop Speaks Out

A senior South Sudanese official announced January 5 that the President has directed the security forces to put an end to “road ambushes, cattle raids and intercommunal clashes” in the country.  The announcement came at the end of a meeting of the National Security Committee.

It followed by a few days accusations by Dr. Paul Benjamin Yugusuk, Archbishop of Central Equatoria, that elements of the South Sudan Peoples’ Defence Forces (formerly the SPLA) were robbing Christians in Lainya County. He cited an incident in which soldiers forced a group of Christians to drink alcohol and then set fire to the hut they were in.  He added that such problems were happening all over South Sudan because soldiers are not being trained or paid.  He said there were some soldiers living in harmony with civilians but others guilty of atrocities. (Radio Tamazuj)

US Diplomacy with Khartoum as Trump Administration Winds Down

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin visited Khartoum January 6, when Sudan signed the “Abraham Accords” with the US promising to normalize relations with Israel.  Perhaps more important to Khartoum was the signature as well of a Memorandum of Understanding making available a bridge loan of $1 billion to clear Sudanese debt with the World Bank and enabling Sudan to access perhaps $1. billion in Bank assistance.  Mnuchin met with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Sovereignty Council President Abdel Fatteh al-Burhan before jetting off to Israel.

Agenda for the Episcopal Church of Sudan

Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo, Primate of the Episcopal Province of Sudan, has shared with me the results of the December meeting of Bishops I mentioned in our last issue.  The bishops rejoiced in the change of regime in Khartoum, the lifting of sanctions against Sudan, the removal of Sudan from the US terrorist list, the agreement reached with rebel groups, and the possibility of normalized relations with Israel.  The Episcopal church has been distributing food in Kassala, Wad Medani and Khartoum.  The Province will focus on training pastors and the Mothers’ Union, while suspending for the present the ordination of new pastors.  It will develop a modernized Arabic version of the Book of Common Prayer.  It will do a census of Episcopalians and church properties.

Executive Director

News from the Diaspora

AFRECS Board member Anita Sanborn recently traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, to spend time with her longtime friend and colleague, Helen Achol Abyei. They first met in 2004 in Denver, Colorado, where Helen had relocated with three of her daughters upon arriving in the United States as a refugee.  Mama Helen has been active in the Diaspora community in North America, including with the South Sudanese Diaspora Network for Reconciliation and Peace (SSDNRP). A highlight of the 2019 AFRECS conference in Lexington, Virginia, was a reading of her play Tribalism No More. Helen has shared her poetry and plays, including her recent Cultural Clashes, with organizations supporting refugees in the US as well as those in South Sudan.  Helen became a US citizen and earned a Bachelor’s degree from Metro State University in Denver. She is the mother of 6 highly accomplished children and the grandmother of 12. 

Anita:  Dear Sister, you and I have been through a lot together.  We have traveled together and worked side by side–especially on projects. to improve the lives of children here in the Diaspora and back home in South Sudan.  Our families have shared many life events, including the passing of those dear to us. We have been engaged with AFRECS for many years.  Tell me what is going on in the Diaspora.

Helen:  Since I came into the U.S.in November 2002, the Diaspora has changed a lot.  In the beginning, we were all together, even those who came from the North.  In Denver, we gathered at St. John’s Cathedral. We felt welcomed and secure.  As time went on, we suffered losses such as the death of Dr. John Garang de Mabior. In 2013 we celebrated independence for South Sudan.  Those big events brought us together, as did the births and deaths of those in the Diaspora community. 

Over the past 18 years, as people have matured in this culture, some have thrived through their hard work. Others have been overwhelmed because they could not adapt or did not have the skills or ability to get an education. A lot of young Sudanese have chosen the wrong path.    Culture here is so different.  Discipline is different.   If you do not change in this country, it will be difficult to keep up with your children.  It takes resilience to work several jobs, help your children with their schoolwork, and stay healthy.  So many of us have deep scars due to what we have been through. 

Some block themselves off from encouragement and advice — due to pride, or because they did not think they needed it.  Human nature makes people sensitive. Our people brought with them tribal identities.  In some communities we were able to overcome this for a time.  But it takes constant attention.  We used to come together in the church, but then some groups broke off and started worshipping with their own tribal group.  Also, the effects of trauma cannot be discounted.  We must acknowledge the role of trauma, war, dislocation, malnutrition, and fear on all of us.

I want to write about all this. Through my plays I have tried to share different perspectives so that we can all see ourselves better.

Anita:  The situation in the Sudans has been so difficult, especially in the past five years.  How do you see the impact of this?

Helen:  There has been so much suffering due to food insecurity, militia activity, the loss of key leaders through imprisonment, assassination, or those forced into exile. Now we even have to say that climate change is bringing floods and altering the growing seasons back home.  Survival is all most people can focus on.

Those in the Diaspora are trying to send more financial help This makes it harder for them as they, too, have suffered economic hardships in the US economy. And now COVID-19.  The stress has made it hard for people to come together as we would like to do. I believe people are doing what they can.  Some are still coming together to worship and pray, but COVID-19 has changed that too.

My friend Busaina in Portland, Oregon is reaching out to her relatives in Sudan to help them buy books and then having discussions by internet, to give the love of reading and help keep education alive.  I started doing the same with my cousins.

Anita:  I hear you saying this is a time of stress — people need to be comforted. 

Helen:  Myself, I believe in prayer. Even though we cannot be together now, the day will come.  The church is our home, and we will return. 

Anita: You have given me a framed verse from Psalm 100: “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever.” It is evident that you remain committed to improving the lives of your fellow countrymen and women — especially the women and children. Your faith is the wellspring of your life.  You share your sense of humor and joy with me, and with all. 

While my husband was in healthcare facilities in Denver with COVID-19 from August through October, I realized how many refugees work in frontline positions.  I was reunited with many in the South Sudanese community working as housekeepers, janitors, CNAs, and RNs. I had not seen them in years. Suddenly we met again in elevators and hallways. We recognized each other, despite our masks.  They were compassionate and encouraged me.   I look around and see the newest immigrants and refugees are serving in healthcare during this time of great need. 

Trinity Cush, Diocese of Iowa 

Growing in numbers through immigration, marriage, and births, Trinity Cush, the newest Episcopal congregation in Des Moines, Iowa, has outgrown the small chapel at St. Andrew’s on Urbandale Avenue. According to Eve Mahr and their Postulant for Holy Orders, Jacob Deng Aleer,” We now make a sound that echoes throughout St. Andrew’s building, supported by drums plus prayerbooks and hymnals in Dinka.” Worship in Dinka is now scheduled at 11:30 a.m. Sundays in the same space where the English-speaking congregation prays at 10 a.m., except during the pandemic as both congregations are worshiping online.
Bishop Scarfe’s Visitation to Trinity Cush in Des Moines, Iowa.

This Dinka congregation first met at Cottage Grove Presbyterian Church in 2001. Under the guidance of the Rev. Peggy Harris, they accepted an invitation in 2003 to worship in the chapel of St. Andrew’s, where the rector is Steven Godfrey. (Scottish Episcopal missionaries, such as Dr. Kenneth Fraser and his wife Eileen, are remembered for their medical and educational work in Moruland, centered on Lui, in the 1920s and 30’s.) The name “Cush” evokes the biblical grandson of Noah, thought of as the father of the African continent, as well as the Cushite wife of Moses, and the ancient kingdom of Cush on the Nile.

Looking to the future, Jacob Aleer says, “We plan to pray two times a day, so that people working mornings will attend evening prayer, and people working in the evening will attend the morning prayer. We want to spread the Word of God to the communities in Iowa and outside of Iowa.” Trinity Cush was accepted in October 2020 as a congregation of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa.

Adapted from the Diocese of Iowa newspaper.  https://www.iowaepiscopal.org/iowa-connections
Fall 2020 Edition, Additional information: John Kelei, (515) 441-5541.

COVID-19

The Africa Center for Strategic Studies reported December 20 that Sudan has registered 9,676 cases of COVID-19 since October 1, a 41% increase since the beginning of the year, with total cases reaching 23,316.  South Sudan has registered 836 in the same period an increase of only 24% for total cases of 3,540.  Given the lack of testing capacity and action in South Sudan, those numbers are particularly suspect.  The report did not list numbers of deaths in either country.  However, the New York Times on January 3 stated that researchers had turned up deaths in Khartoum alone of more than 16,400 by mid-November.

SOUTH SUDAN

The South Sudan Government announced January 5 that the parties to the R/ARCSS have agreed that the transitional period for the agreement should be extended to 2023 “to allow full implementation of critical tasks.” This is the third extension of the transition.  Key unfinished tasks include designation of the 10^th governor and security sector reforms, to say nothing of preparations of elections at the end of 2022.  Critics will argue that the decision simply cements in place the benefits being received by the sitting governing group, including the opposition.

SUDAN

Security Tensions with Ethiopia over refugees

As of January 4, the Ethiopian army deployed troops to the Sudanese border to prevent additional Tigrayan refugees from crossing the frontier into the refugee camp at Hamdayet.  One Sudanese official reported that more than 63,000 Ethiopian refugees are in Sudan.  UNHCR is in the process of moving tens of thousands of refugees from Hamdayet in Kassala State, at a sensitive point where Eritrea, Sudan, and Ethiopia meet, to Altanideba Camp in Gedaref State.  The Ethiopian Government claims to control the Tigray Region, but Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front fighters continue resistance in several areas, and a few TPLF troops are believed to have crossed into Sudan with the refugees.  (Sudan Tribune Jan 5) Accusations by Ethiopian officials that Sudanese troops have entered Sudan have been firmly denied by the head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

UNAMID Peacekeeping Force to Exit Darfur

UNAMID, the UN/African Union “hybrid” peacekeeping force in Darfur, first authorized in 2007, was terminated the UN Security Council December 22.  It will have six months to complete the drawdown.  UNAMID’s mission, with a force that at time exceeded 20,000, was to protect Darfuri civilians, but violence continued to afflict displaced persons and villages in much of Sudan’s Wild West for most of its tenure.  The overthrow of the Bashir Government in 2019 and the conclusion of an agreement between the Sudanese Government and most rebel groups removed much of the rationale for the peacekeeping force.  The Darfur Women’s Action Group (DWAG) has sharply criticized the Transitional Government for failing to curb continuing violence in Darfur, much of which has been blamed on the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary force loyal to Gen. Mohamed Hamdan (Hemedti), a member of the Sovereign Council.  The DWAG charges that the RSF represents a newer version of the Janjawit Arab militias, which were responsible for genocidal acts against the “African” ethnic groups of Darfur – especially the Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit.  The DWAG and the Sudan Professionals Association, which played a major role in the uprising against Bashir, have called for the disbanding of the RSF and its integration into the national army.

News from various sources

The Guardian 12/18/2021
South Sudan faces ‘catastrophic’ famine unless conflict ended

UN agencies say millions at risk if aid cannot reach areas of country stricken by floods, violence, and Covid-19.

The head of the UN’s South Sudan mission, David Shearer, told the security council this week that progress on the peace deal continues to stagnate while violence affected much of the country. Around 2,000 people have been killed in intercommunal violence during the past year, including at least 600 deaths in Jonglei state. Shearer warned that a surge in violence was likely during the approaching dry season. He said nine humanitarian workers had been killed in 2020.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/18/south-sudan-faces-catastrophic-famine-unless-conflict-ended

The East African 12/21/2020

Igad lifts travel restrictions against Riek Machar

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) has formally lifted travel sanctions imposed on South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar during the war. The decision, which follows several verbal confirmations by Igad envoys, means that Dr Mach is free to travel to any of the members of the region bloc and that his house arrest was no longer valid.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/igad-lifts-travel-restrictions-against-riek-machar-3235256

Radio Tamazuj 12/17/2020

Cholera vaccination campaign underway in Bor

An oral cholera vaccination campaign is ongoing in the Jonglei State capital, Bor. The drive was launched on Tuesday and will run through till the 19th of this month.  Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, Dr. Samuel Majur, the Director-General in the state health ministry, “We are targeting 71, 852 people, ages from one year old and above, in Bor town and other parts, especially those in the displaced camps. The vaccine is administered through the mouth and it is safe and simple.”

According to WHO, during this first round of oral cholera vaccination, 88 percent of the target population, 63 280 individuals aged one year and above, were reached with the vaccine. The second round is scheduled to start in the first week of January 2021 to ensure full protection from cholera for the next three years.

https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/cholera-vaccination-campaign-underway-in-bor
https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/over-63-000-vaccinated-against-cholera-in-bor-south

EyeRadio 12/16/2020

Bor Residents Appeal for Dike Construction Materials

Communities in Bor town in Jonglei state are appealing to the national government and partners to work with them to build a permanent dyke to help contain and prevent floods in the area. The area is flooded yearly by the overflow of the River Nile and has been devastated by flash floods that have been ongoing since May 2020.

“We need dyke repair, a permanent dyke, sandbags, food, clean water and excavator,” one resident of the town said. According to the state Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, more than 340,000 people from its nine counties have been displaced by the persistent flash floods. Many families have been affected and dozens of villages have been destroyed by floods in mostly Jonglei, Pibor, Upper Nile, Unity, Western, and Eastern Equatoria states. 

Peter Awel who represents those worst affected by the floods in four villages declared that the residents of Hai Machor, Amoyok, Konibor and Panaper are willing to chip in to help build the dykes. “The community here will provide labour as usual,” he said, adding that “we need machines for draining water when the dyke is constructed.” “There is also a need for resettlement, building materials, bamboos, iron sheet, among others.”

Author: Daniel Danis | Published: Tuesday, December 15, 2020
https://eyeradio.org/bor-residents-appeal-for-dyke-construction-materials/

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!
We are grateful that you our supporters have continued to propel AFRECS in expanding our impact on the essential peacebuilding work of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.  We hope you will consider another generous gift — or whatever you can afford in this time of COVID  — as we begin our new program year  You can contribute online at https://afrecs.org or send a check made out to AFRECS to P.O. Box 3327, Alexandria, VA 22302.

Board members Caroline Klam and Richard Jones contributed to editing this issue.

Update from Dane Smith 

Sudan Episcopal Bishops Hold Retreat

I received a welcome communication from Canon Musa Abujam, Provincial Secretary of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, whom I met for the first time during a visit in February (pre-COVID).  He reported that Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo of the Province of Sudan had gathered all the bishops of its five dioceses, with their wives, for a retreat at the beginning of December. I gather it was a joyful and fruitful gathering, which permitted an extensive exchange of views.

Bishop Abdu Elnur Kodi of the Diocese of Port Sudan indicates that the situation in Port Sudan and Kasala has calmed down after violence in recent months between the Nuba and Beni Amer groups. There have also been reports that the Beja, the largest group in the area, have been discontented.  Canon Musa said the area is now quiet, but there is still fear.  He warned that the situation could deteriorate again, but that people were once again moving freely. He noted with pride that the Episcopal cathedral in Port Sudan had made it possible for those fearful of the earlier unrest to stay within the compound for weeks until they felt safe enough to return home.

In the Diocese of Wad Medani, in east central Sudan astride the Blue Nile, the population has been deeply affected by the unprecedented floods of 2020.  Fortunately, the Episcopal Church has been able to offer help to affected Christians.

Canon Musa also noted that Suffragan Bishop Hassan Osman of the Kadugli Diocese says that the situation is calm in the town of Kadugli.  However, people are suffering from the high inflation-induced cost of living, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sudan Removed from Religious Freedom Violators List

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced December 7 that Sudan (along with Uzbekistan) had been removed from the Special Watch List for violations of religious freedom.  The action was “based on significant, concrete progress undertaken … over the past year. Their courageous reforms of their laws and practices stand as models for other nations to follow.”  Sudanese Christians have been enjoying new freedom since the overthrow of the Bashir regime in 2019.

Executive Director

Three AFRECS Board Members Recall former Prime Minister of Sudan Sadiq al-Mahdi

Our old friend Sadiq al-Mahdi died of COVID-19 on November 26..  The only freely elected leader of Sudan, who had continued to play an important and often influential role in Sudanese politics.  No one has the wasta to take his place.

• Thomas H. Staal, USAID Emergency Officer, Khartoum, following 1980s East Africa famine

Sadiq al-Mahdi was the only Prime Minister that I felt I had a personal equation with. It stemmed from a conversation we had at what must have been the 1988 Embassy July 4th reception. As I recall from the previous gatherings, he would arrive and go to the open space in the middle of the compound and accept and briefly respond to greetings without really engaging in conversations that other attendees tried to start. As I walked over to make my effort I recalled that someone had told me that he was an avid polo player. So, after exchanging pro forma greetings, I asked him if polo was still a popular sport in Khartoum. His face immediately lit up. He emphatically said “yes” and began telling me about it. He asked me if I played polo, and I said that I didn’t but I loved horses and would love to watch and begin to learn. He asked me if I had a horse. I told him about the two that two friends and I owned. I told him one was an Arabian-Thoroughbred Mix and the other was a former polo pony. He asked the pony’s name. When I told him it was Atrees, he laughed and exclaimed, “I know Atrees! He’s crazy!” We talked about Atrees and his eccentricities and had quite a bit to laugh about. He said he would like to introduce me to polo and suggested I give him a call so we could discuss it further. I didn’t take him up on that, but encountered him again some months later at the home of the people who owned and operated what was probably the only woman’s college in Sudan. He invited me to join him at a specific location and time. Before that date arrived, the military coup that brought the Islamist regime to power had occurred, and Sadiq was on the lam.

After Sadiq left the July 4 reception I had a lot of questions to answer from people who had been watching our exchange from a distance.

I know bad things happened on Sadiq’s watch to some southern civilian populations during the war with the SPLM/SPLA. But my gut tells me that those things didn’t happen because Sadiq wanted them to.

• Frederick E. Gilbert, former director, USAID Mission to Sudan

Sadiq al-Mahdi (SAM) loomed large over Sudan from the mid-1960s to his death at 84 last month in the United Arab Emirates, where he was being treated for COVID-19.  Great grandson of Muhammad Ahmed, the Mahdi, who led the first Islamic revolt against British colonialism in the 19th century, Sadiq became Prime Minister in 1966 at age 35.  He was head of the Umma Party, the political vehicle for the Ansar, the Sufi collective linked by allegiance to the Mahdi. His term lasted less than a year before defections in his own party led to his ouster.  With degrees in politics from Oxford, Sadiq was well-spoken in both English and Arabic, an attractive figure for international leaders.  Tall, powerfully built and athletic, he was a compelling personality.

After a public uprising led to the overthrow of military dictator Jaafar Nimeiry (1969-1985), the Umma Party won fair elections in 1986, when Sadiq again became Prime Minister.  There were high expectations that he would end the civil war in the South, which had rekindled in 1983, and bring about economic reforms to put Sudan on the road to prosperity.  He did neither.  He spent his time in political maneuvering, seeking to arrive at coordinated positions supported by the opposition Democratic Unionist Party, led by Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani (MOM) and his brother-in-law Hassan al-Turabi (HAT), chief of the National Islamic Front.  He feared that decisive action to end shar’ia (Islamic law – created by Nimeiri), essential to negotiating peace with John Garang’s Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), would lead to his ouster.  Nevertheless, the period of his rule was one of free-wheeling democracy — freedom of the press, no political prisoners, and vigorous political debate. It was a pleasant and stimulating time to work in Sudan. Sadiq’s dithering, however, gave time for Turabi (HAT) to plot with elements of the army for the overthrow of his regime, which occurred at the end of June 1989, ten days before my assignment ended as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Khartoum.  Sadiq was imprisoned along with other political leaders but soon released and continued to lead the greatly weakened Umma Party under Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s autocratic government.

During the 1986-89 period I had several meetings with Sadiq, sometimes accompanying Ambassador Norman Anderson, and sometimes on my own as Chargé d’Affaires.  I remember particularly vividly a meeting when I received an instruction from Washington to meet urgently with the Prime Minister to inform him that the U.S. Government was “outraged” about statements that he had recently made supporting positions taken by Muamar al-Qadhafi of Libya.  Sadiq took my demarche in stride without becoming angry, although he vigorously disputed the US position.  He was always cordial. There was room for plenty of back-and-forth.  Sadiq had the impressive habit of explaining his position by enunciating an eight or a ten-point plan precisely and without notes.  The problem was that Sadiq’s plans never seemed to get enacted.  A popular nickname for him was Abu Kalaam, “father of talk.”  In the US Embassy we sometimes said that Sadiq made decisions but no conveyor belt was ever created to implement them.

In 2011 I returned to Sudan as Senior Advisor to the US Government on Darfur.  I was astonished to find that beneath the surface of the widely detested Bashir regime, party politics were continuing little changed from the 1980s.  SAM, MOM and HAT were still running their political movements 22 years later. MOM’s party had actually joined the regime.  I met Sadiq several times at his home in Omdurman, sometimes attended by his daughter Miriam, who has inherited his leadership of the Umma Party. He welcomed me and responded readily to my questions about national leadership, conflict in Sudan, including in Darfur, and Sudan’s role in the region.  His mind was sharp. He was vigorous and still playing tennis. I considered him a friend and enjoyed that special hospitality for which the Sudanese are famous.

Sadiq’s death comes during a period of transformation in Sudan. Turabi died in 2016.  MOM survives them both, but is rarely heard from. The overthrow of Bashir in 2019 and the creation of an interim regime headed by a military Sovereignty Council and a civilian prime minster has brought new leaders to the fore in place of the Nile Valley Tribes (Ja’iliin, Shaigiya, Danagla) which have dominated the politics of Sudan since independence in 1956.  Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is from Kordofan; Sovereignty Council Deputy Chair Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) is from Darfur; Gen. Shams al-Din Khabbashi of the Sovereignty Council is from southern Kordofan.  Whatever happens during this fragile transition, the vast diversity of Sudan is much more likely to be represented at the political table than in the past.  SAM will be remembered fondly by many of us, not least for his enduring commitment to democracy, but not because of his flawed political leadership of his country.

• Dane F. Smith, Jr., Retired U.S. Ambassador to Guinea and Senegal, Deputy Chief of Mission in Sudan, 1986-89

The POC3 School in Juba is back in full swing!  Students are happy to be back in class.

NEWS

South Sudan Economic News

On November 11, 2020, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund approved for South Sudan a Rapid Credit Facility drawdown of about U.S. $62,300,000 (36,900,000 in Special Drawing Rights SDR). The loan will aid the government’s balance of payments situation and spending requirements.

The government urgently needs assistance to address the current national crisis resulting from various factors including armed conflict, floods, and a weak economy. Floods and recurring droughts, exacerbated by the climate crisis, have devastated the country’s food production capability. Save the Children, an international charitable NGO, has stated that the country faces the threat of famine, with 300,000 South Sudanese children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. The country also deals with grave health threats, such as HIV/AIDS, which affects nearly 200,000 South Sudanese.

Sources:  Sudan Post, Sudan Tribune, African Arguments, Eye Radio

Peace in South Sudan is Still Elusive

As reported December 1st by the Associated Press, United Nations experts stated that the peace efforts in South Sudan have stalled. The coalition government formed in February has not met established deadlines, and Vice-President Riek Machar, the former opposition leader, is kept “out of the decision-making process.” A unified military organization has not been established. The panel that monitors sanctions against the country has recommended to the U.N. Security Council that the arms embargo be maintained and more effectively implemented. The international organization Amnesty International has also called for the continuation of the arms embargo in view of reported instances of violence.

In the meantime, on December 1st, first Vice-President Riek Machar addressed the conference of his political party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), declaring that peace is the only way for the country to achieve stability, and that his party Is committed to the pursuit of peace.

Sources: Associated Press, BBC Ne

BOOK REVIEW

A Rope from the Sky: The Making and Unmaking of the World’s Newest State, by Zach Vertin

Reviewed by Jonathan Harris, Diocese of Southwestern Virginia

As one who has long observed – however casually – the journey of the people of South Sudan, this book was incredibly helpful in putting together the pieces of their story and the current crisis.  It is very well written and presented in an engaging manner by a former US diplomat with 8 years of hands-on experience in South Sudan.  I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in South Sudan.  I listened to the audio book, with an excellent reader in Chris Ciulla.

The book helped me understand what has been and is going on in South Sudan and why.  Many of us were so excited for South Sudan to achieve independence in 2011 but then crestfallen to witness the slaughter and mayhem which ensued just two years later and continues to this day.  The South Sudanese rose up together to achieve liberation and independence in 2011 — only to turn on each other.  Vertin unpacks this juxtaposition for us.

Would it have made a difference if their iconic and visionary leader John Garang hadn’t died tragically in a helicopter crash in 2005?  Could he have led them to unity?  Were the differences and past tensions between Dinka and Nuer just too much to overcome for any leader?  Would it have made a difference if Salva Kiir – considered to lack political acumen – had stepped down in 2011 and just accepted the laurels of independence?  Could Kiir and Riek Machar have been able to rise above hardliners advising them in their respective tribes?  Did the trappings of power so insulate Kiir, Machar, and other top South Sudanese leaders that they could not speak up for their ordinary citizens?  Was the prospect of creating a new nation overnight just more than could be done, when many were illiterate with little to no experience with a governing body, let alone a participatory democracy?  With so much desperation, government officials can’t help but succumb to the needs of their extended family, thus proliferating nepotism and corruption.  To move from decades of brutal war to free nation – essentially overnight – is a tall order indeed.

Editors’. Note:  The author, Zack Vertin, worked in South Sudan with Crisis Group and later as an aide to U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, the late Princeton Lyman.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!

Our supporters have continued to propel AFRECS so that we can expand our impact on the essential peacebuilding work of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.  We hope you will consider another generous gift — or whatever you can afford in this COVID year — as the year ends.  You can contribute online at https://afrecs.org or send a check made out to AFRECS to P.O. Box 3327, Alexandria, VA 22302.

Board members Gwinneth Clarkson, Caroline Klam, and Steven Miles contributed to editing this issue.

Update from Dane Smith 

AFRECS joined Five Talents in 2019 to begin trauma healing instruction for savings groups of women and young men in Renk, capital of Upper Nile State.  The project was originally envisioned by the dynamic Bishop of Renk Diocese, Bishop Joseph Garang Atem.  Implementation is being undertaken by Five Talents and the Mothers Union.  Training of trainers has been supervised by the South Sudan Episcopal Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Committee.  AFRECS Executive Director Dane Smith, visiting Renk in February with Five Talents coordinator Anne Figge, came away impressed by the enthusiasm of the groups for the trauma healing element of the training.

During 2020, the project was locked down because of COVID in April, but 15 groups resumed in July, even in the face of severe flooding in the region. Seven more groups are expected to launch before the end of the year.  The groups meet weekly with each participant seeking to add very small amounts of their own savings to the pool.  Typically groups involving women spend their first year focusing on literacy and numeracy before getting basic financial training.  Young men are more likely to be literate and move more directly into learning financial skills.  Trauma healing instruction, with heavy emphasis on group discussion, is integrated into the other kinds of training. Five Talents and AFRECS are fortunate to have working with the groups two highly skilled chief trainers in trauma healing, Amer Deng Ayom and Ajak John Manyang.  Both organizations have worked to adapt the Quaker-initiated trauma healing curriculum initially applied to draw more on the Scripture lessons and Christian rituals familiar to South Sudanese Christians.

There is high demand for more trauma healing training for a South Sudan population that has been devastated by civil war, violence and chronic sexual assault against women.  AFRECS is therefore exploring with Five Talents the possibility of additional programming, particularly in Equatoria, the southern third of the country  Five Talents has recently launched a program for savings groups in the Diocese of Terekeka, a heavily rural and poor area north of Juba, where trauma healing may be appropriate.

In its approach to Equatoria, AFRECS would like to benefit from the experience of Retired Canon Sylvester Thomas Kambaya and his Education and Peace Foundation.  Canon Sylvester has been doing trauma healing work in Mundri Diocese, west of Terekeka, which he topped off in late 2019 with a successful four-day workshop for generals and civilian government officials from the area, including opposition military from SPLA/IO. There were about 90 participants.  The Mundri work has drawn on a workshop curriculum, Healing the Wounds of Trauma: How the Church Can Help, developed by the American Bible Society.

AFRECS is currently consulting with DT-Global, a firm which recently won a five-year $67 million USAID contract to continue conflict mitigation and peacebuilding in South Sudan working with civil society and religious leaders.  One of the foci of the project, which is just getting underway, is trauma awareness.   We will be working to link DT-Global with Episcopal church leaders active in peacebuilding, as project leaders seek to identify key locations for activity.  Ultimately, we are interested in whether the project can provide some support for faith-based trauma healing training.

Executive Director

Condition of Girls in South Sudan

In the African Report on Child Wellbeing 2020, released during the weekend of 21 November 2020, the non-profit organization African Child Policy Forum named South Sudan as one of the three worst African countries in their treatment of girls. The report classified nations according to their care for girls in the areas of healthcare, education and protection under the law.

According to the report, more than 80 percent of girls in the country do not have access to primary education. Child marriage, malnutrition, mental health challenges and human trafficking are also major threats to the welfare of South Sudanese girls. Gender-based violence, affecting both women and girls, has increased in South Sudan during the current coronavirus pandemic, according to the UN Population Fund and the South Sudanese Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare.

(Source: Eye Radio)

Continuing Differences over Pending New Constitution for South Sudan

The South Sudanese National Dialogue Conference closed on Tuesday, 17 November 2020, at which time the delegates issued a communique detailing the resolutions they have adopted. The Conference has endorsed a federal structure, with both federal and state levels of government. The Conference’s resolutions include:

State governments will enjoy a certain level of autonomy. Executive, legislative and judicial branches will exist at both levels. At the national level, the presidency will consist of five-year terms, limited to two terms for each president. The national capital shall be moved to Ramcel. Security and economic issues will be the responsibility of the national government. 32+ states will be established in the country, to be determined according to factors such as population and territoriality.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit has announced that the resolutions established by the Conference will be incorporated in the national constitution. It has been suggested that a select committee be appointed to follow up on implementation of the Conference’s resolutions.

(Sources: Eye Radio, The East African)

Physician, Public Health Specialist — and Author

Sacrifice and other short stories, by Edward Eremugo Kenyi
Reviewed by Richard J. Jones

To our list of physicians who are also writers — including Atul Gawande, William Carlos Williams, and Saint Luke — we can now add the name of Edward Eremugo Kenyi. This entrancing collection of fourteen short stories — published by Africa World Books, which is supported by the British historian of Sudan, Prof. Douglas H. Johnson — lets us taste being Sudanese. We are offered glimpses of children’s village life at home and in after-school adventures, the life of a Southern professional in Khartoum during the 1983-2005 war, con men at work in Juba while Independence Day fireworks are going off, and the search for companionship among the North American diaspora. One story deals with sibling rivalry which threatens the survival of Africans living in space 300 years after Earth has become unlivable. Readers of the Lost Boy genre of autobiography will encounter here something more modest and less hortatory. The diverse narrators of these stories speak with candor, wit, and rue.

Recommended as a Christmas gift for any friend of the Church in the Sudans, and any neighbor of Diaspora residents of North America.

The book was published in 2020 by Africa World Books, with ISBN number 978-0-6488415-8-6. Available from Amazon here.

Signed copies are available from the author at $15 including postage to anywhere in the US. Contact eremugo@gmail.com for details. Kenyi is a physician and currently works in the field of international public health at Johns Hopkins University. He is member of Maryland’s South Sudanese Christian fellowship.

AFRECS ACTS

Larry Duffee Joins Board of AFRECS

Beginning in 2010, Lawrence R. Duffee, MBA, MPA spent three years as a missionary from The Episcopal Church in the USA to the Episcopal Church of Sudan, after initially intending to devote only four weeks assisting with accounting in the the office of the Provincial Secretary in Juba. Thereafter he worked for three years with IMA (Interchurch Medical Assistance)World Health, followed by four years with the British civil engineering firm Mott MacDonald in their program to encourage enrollment and retention of girls in school, all of it in South Sudan.

He returned to the US in March 2020 and resumed working with IMA World Health (now under the umbrella of Corus International) as an International Finance Analyst.  In this role he provides support to IMA’s office in South Sudan and remains engaged with developments in that country. Recently elected unanimously to the Board of AFRECS, Duffee will take over the duties of Treasurer in 2021 from Bradford Langmaid, Jr.. Duffee’s home parish is St George’s Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is married with one young child.

Today is Giving Tuesday

As you renew your commitments, and examine your giving, please remember our work in the Sudans – Sudan and South Sudan, supporting faith-based peacebuilding.  Help us continue teaching and caring for the orphans in the United Nations POC3 Camp near Juba.  Help us expand trauma healing training for women and youth.

We, and they, offer our heartfelt THANKS for your gift – large or small!

AFRECS – American Friends of the Episcopal Church of the Sudans 

Board members Frederick E. Gilbert and Gwinneth A. Clarkson contributed to editing this issue.

Update from Dane Smith 

Jonglei Situation Precarious

Recent violence and flooding have generated enormous population disruption in South Sudan’s Jonglei state.  Some 350,000 are reportedly displaced, including 180,000 around Bor alone.  Distribution of food and other relief supplies has been limited, although those in and around Bor have been reached, according to the Jonglei Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.

Vulnerability of Humanitarian Workers

Since the beginning of 2020 nine humanitarian workers have been killed in the line of duty in South Sudan.  In late October two were murdered in Jonglei State and the Pibor Administrative Area, causing Plan International temporarily to halt its program.

South Sudan and Medical NGO’s

The health ministry of South Sudan has placed new limitations on international NGOs operating in the country’s healthcare sector. According to BBC News, those limitations include the requirement that all such organizations deposit their funds in a single account held by the central bank.  The NGOs are also prohibited from hiring local medical professionals, with the justification that such hiring leads to an “internal brain-drain”. The government’s rationale for these limitations is unlikely to be persuasive to foreign friends.

A new ambulance, purchased in Juba by Bishop Joseph Garang Atem
for the Diocese of Renk with funds from Virginia parishes.
Photo source: Jackie Kraus

Resumption of South Sudanese National Dialogue

The final conference of the South Sudan National Dialogue began November 3, supported by IGAD, the African Union and South Sudan’s neighbor governments.  However, the SPLM/IO declined to participate, along with Lam Akol’s National Democratic Movement.  Civil society and representatives of the South Sudan Council of Churches are participating.

Call for creation of government structures

Charles Tai Gitual, the interim chair of South Sudan’s Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC), is calling for a more rapid structuring of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, and the South Sudanese state governments.  The R-JMEC is an oversight body created under the 2018 peace agreement – the Revised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R/ARCSS).  Gitual also noted that women should make up 35% of representation at state levels.
(Source: Sudan Post)

Civil Conflict in Ethiopia Impacts Sudan

The Ethiopian Government’s offensive against theTigray regional government, coupled with reported shelling of Tigray by the Eritrean Government, has displaced thousands.  As of November 14 some 25,000 refugees had spilled over the Sudanese border toward Gedaref.

COVID in Sudan

As of the end of October Sudan had reported 13,804 cases of COVID-19, including 837 deaths.  There is little evidence that COVID is a significant issue in Sudan after a spike in cases in May and June.

Executive Director

Episcopal University of South Sudan:
A Conversation between Rick Houghton and Eeva John

Dr. Eeva John, picking up the phone at her home in the United Kingdom, had some good news to share with the Reverend Frederic L. Houghton, a former teacher of theology in Namibia and Kenya now living in Washington, DC, anad member of the AFRECS Board…

“The Episcopal University of South Sudan,” she announced, has received a large anonymous gift, arriving on the day of the Annual General Meeting of Sudan University Partners in the United Kingdom. This donation will enable construction to begin on the new campus at Rokon within the next six months.  EMI, an alliance of Christian architects and builders, will supervise the construction through its Uganda branch, partnering  with EUSS.  EMI was founded was founded in the United States  in 1982 , now with branches around the world.

“I am thrilled to learn from you of this wonderful gift from God” Houghton said. “And it isn’t even Christmas yet! We may well thank God for this good news and show our gratitude by renewed efforts.”

Many readers will know Dr. Eeva John, an associate of Ridley Hall at Cambridge University, as a staunch advocate of the church in Sudan and of the Episcopal University in particular. She graced AFRECS with her presence at our Chicago conference. Her resumé reveals  a PhD in chemistry, a diploma and Master’s degree in theology, and teaching experience in three British seminaries. Working for the Archbishop of Canterbury, she coordinated a taskforce which produced a common curriculum for all British seminaries.

Dr. John tempered her good news with details. “The existing seminaries of The Episcopal Church of South Sudan are teaching again after a Covid shutdown, but they are struggling financially, due to the inflation produced by civil unrest and lack of government leadership. The formal licensing of the Episcopal University seems to be stalled, with Archbishop Justin Badi now involved in some tactful inquiries to speed things up. The search for a chancellor is on hold until the Covid situation abates, but a Zoom network is being set up so that local and overseas leaders can engage in joint planning. Our prayers, financial aid, and advocacy are still needed.”

Schooling Interrupted by Virus, then Floods

Photo source: Nichola Mandil, BBC News

The State of Jonglei in South Sudan, along with the rest of the world, has suffered the ravages caused by the current pandemic. Now catastrophic flooding has occurred in Jonglei and Unity State. Many thousands have lost their homes, crops and cattle, and hunger has increased. The schools in Bor, the capital of Jonglei, were closed for several months. They reopened in September, but students have encountered major difficulty in getting to school because of recent flooding. The entire state of Jonglei expected about 4,000 candidates to take final examinations early next year. However, many students in Bor and other locations have had to drop out. Flooding has made it impossible for them to continue their schooling. A local secondary education official, Francis Mayen, has said that flooding will not force the school system in Bor to close, but might require some schools to relocate.

There are not nearly enough schools or trained teachers to educate all the children and young adults in South Sudan. However, the Episcopal Church is active in the field of education, with five theological colleges, four Bible schools, and a vocational training center. In addition, some 8,000 students attend the church’s twelve secondary schools and 280 primary and pre-primary schools. The latest ambitious project is the creation of The Episcopal University of South Sudan with its hub in Rokon, near Juba.**

From news.un.org, ecssup.org

The Good Lie

First screened at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival, later promoted on U.S. college campuses by The Enough Project, the film The Good Lie remains, almost a decade later, an entertaining and instructive introduction for North Americans to the South Sudanese among us. Values of Dinka society and American society clash, and the audience chuckles.

Along with Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama, Walk the LIne) — a real-life friend of the Sudans and an Episcopalian — the cast includes the African actors Arnold Oceng, Kuoth Wiel, Femi Oguns, Ger Duany, and Emmanuel Jal. (The three principal Sudanese actors, all former refugees, encourage donations to UNICEF.) John Prendergast, an American activist, appears in a scene at the U. N. refugee camp handing the refugees a block of ice as a pre-departure lesson.

With flashbacks to the burning of villages in 1983 and the 1,000 mile trek of the young survivors from Bahr al Ghazal region to a U.N. refugee camp in the Kenyan desert, the story picks up in 2000 when 3,600 out of Kakuma’s 10,000 residents are selected to resettle in the U.S. We follow Amere, Abital, Jeremiah, and Paul as they deplane in Kansas City and start to look for work, but Abital is separated from her brother for lack of a sponsor family and is sent to Boston. The action culminates on New Year’s Day 2002, when the Midwestern “Lost Boys” regather to celebrate their collective, immigration service-assigned official birthday.

Parishioners of Grace Episcopal Church in Lexington, Virginia enjoyed viewing The Good Lie in 2019 at Washington and Lee University, through the offices of Douglas Cummings, professor of journalism, prior to welcoming South Sudanese guests into their homes for the AFRECS annual conference.

Asylum Petition Awaits Hearing

David Mayen Dengdit, a political dissident who resigned in 2018 as an aide to Vice President James Wani Igga of South Sudan, is pursuing an LLM degree in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy at Sturm College of Law, University of Denver, while awaiting a U.S. immigration court hearing on his petition for asylum. Mayen writes, “I find it consoling to see oneself and one’s limited-choice challenges as a small, if not immaterial, grain in a somewhat imperfect world. I appreciate my current blessings, in comparison to other millions who have lost hope in a better tomorrow.”

ICYMI: Presence, Peacebuilding, and Pastoral Mission in South Sudan Webinar recording available online

A recording of the CEEP-sponsored webinar about the work of AFRECS, “Presence, Peacebuilding, and Pastoral Mission in South Sudan” is available on the CEEP website.  Our Executive Director, Dane Smith, moderated a panel discussion with AFRECS President Phil Darrow; Rev. Joseph Billal, Vice Chancellor of the Episcopal University of South Sudan; and Jackie Kraus, member of the Task Force on Dialogue with the South Sudanese Anglican Diaspora.

How to Find Back Issues of AFRECS E-Blast

An archive of all E-blasts can be found by clicking “E-Blasts” on the bottom of any E-blast article. You will see 5 recent E-blast links appear on the right-hand sidebar on each E-blast if you are reading it on your desktop computer. Also, there are arrow buttons on the bottom of the post: these will move you either forward or backward to the E-Blast immediately preceding or the immediately following the one you are looking at.

Issue edited by AFRECS Board Members Frederick Houghton and Gwinneth Clarkson

Update from Dane Smith 

With the renewal of diplomatic travel, the US Government has recently reengaged with the Troika (U.S., U.K., Norway) in active diplomacy in South Sudan. In September Special Envoy Stuart Symington traveled to Juba with other members, meeting with President Kiir, Vice-President Machar, plus church and civil society representatives, urging the leaders to pursue a peace dividend by constituting the legislature and completing the appointment of state and local officials.

They then proceeded to Rome in early October for Sant’ Egidio-sponsored talks with non-signatories of the R/ARCSS. (South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance, which includes Gen.Thomas Cirillo (NAS), Lam Akol (NDM), and two other groups.) Those talks, which followed a cease-fire agreement in January, violated by both sides, reportedly endorsed a Declaration of Principles as a basis for further talks between commanders in November. Despite these negotiations, Stimson Center reports that violence against civilians has been much higher in 2020 than 2019, most of it from inter-communal violence.

The United Nations World Food Program, which received the Nobel Peace Prize on October 9, reports that unprecedented flooding has “plunged 700,000 into a hunger and livelihoods crisis.” Nearly half of South Sudan is under water. Jonglei is the hardest hit area, constituting a third of the 700,000 affected. 85,000 are displaced. The WFP is currently feeding 300,000.

On October 6^th the UN Human Rights Council released a report from the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan stating that in 2017 and 2018 government forces deliberately withheld food and other essential resources from the Luo and Fertit populations in Western Bahr al-Ghazal, then under SPLM-IO control. Troops were encouraged to pillage their villages, thereby using starvation as a weapon of warfare in violation of international law. The same is true for forces loyal to Riek Machar in Central Equatoria State. These actions, according to the report, destroyed the social fabric of many rural communities.

From Khartoum, Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo, Primate of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, reports that the priorities for his Province are: peace, return of refugees and displaced people under conditions of food security, no more killing of innocent civilians or rape of women, and freedom of worship.

The main news out of Sudan is floods, the worst in decades. They have badly hit not only Khartoum, but also Blue Nile, Sennar, and North and West Darfur. The UN reports that 1.4 million people are food insecure, 800,000 homeless, and 21 dead. Politically, the GOS formally signed the Juba Agreement with the Sudan Revolutionary Front, which included major Darfuri rebel groups (Justice & Equality Movement (JEM) and Minni Minawi), but not SPLM/N Abdelaziz al-Hilu and Darfuri rebel Abdelwahid al-Nur (SLM).  Negotiations continue with al-Hilu, based on a separate truce signed in Addis. Prime Minister Hamdok fired the Governor of Kassala after violence there.

Executive Director

November Surprise

AFRECS is holding a Zoom Webinar! You won’t want to miss it!  Executive Director, Dane Smith, will moderate a panel in a Q&A session about AFRECS’ Purpose, Programs and Plans: Panelists are AFRECS President Phil Darrow; Rev. Joseph Bilal, Vice Chancellor of the Episcopal University of South Sudan; and Jackie Kraus, member of the Task Force on Dialogue with the South Sudanese Anglican Diaspora.

          

Where?  the CEEP Network*
WHEN? Veteran’s Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020
TIME?  3:00 PM-EST
Just log into CEEPnetwork.org, CLICK “Upcoming Webinars/Resources”,
scroll down to click “Register Here” and follow the prompts.  Enjoy!
*CEEP = Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes

The Sudanese and South Sudanese Diaspora in North America

A conference of South Sudanese pastoral leaders serving congregations in the United States, scheduled for a Kansas City airport hotel in April 2020, had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 epidemic. This conference was intended to help the Task Force on Dialogue with South Sudanese Anglican Diaspora, created by the General Convention of The Episcopal Church in 2019 and chaired by the Rev. Ranjit Mathews and Bishop Alan Scarfe of Iowa, to learn from pastoral leaders’ varied experience across the United States. (Canadian congregations were not included.) Members include Bishop Martin Field of West Missouri, Ms. Jackie Kraus of Chicago, Mr. Buck Blanchard of Colorado, and the Rev. Michael Kiju Paul of Texas, with assistance from the Rev. Stan Runnels, retired priest of West Missouri. Meanwhile, Sudanese and South Sudanese Christian congregations are continuing their life together — apart.

Multilingual Maryland Fellowship

In the region of Baltimore, Maryland, South Sudanese Christians who formerly met at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in the suburb of Towson are maintaining their fellowship by teleconference. In response to the restrictions on face-to-face gatherings during the Coronavirus epidemic, this group takes to their telephones every Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. Songs are sung – in English, Arabic, and even in Lingala by one Congolese member. Petitions and thanksgivings are spoken, testimonies and a word of encouragement are offered, and members are strengthened for the week to come.

Among the leaders of this fellowship are Immanuel Hakim, a building contractor, James Okeny, a counselor with a City of Baltimore-funded housing assistance agency; and Dr. Edward Eremugo Kenyi, a researcher and international public health advisor specializing in maternal and child health.  Some members participate additionally in more established congregations, such as Greater Grace in Towson, where for the past seven years Kenyi has been studying in their Bible College.

The Right Reverend Robert Ihlof, retired Episcopal Bishop of Maryland, who currently assists in the diocese, has offered to consult with these leaders as they search for an appropriate meeting place, looking ahead to the time when worship and other activities can resume in person.

New South Sudanese congregation joins the Diocese of Iowa

A new congregation in the Diocese of Iowa is that of Trinity Cush Episcopal Church, based in Des Moines. Admitted as a congregation on October 24, 2020 during the annual diocesan convention, Trinity Cush is composed of members of the South Sudanese Diaspora, principally of the Dinka tribe.

Two South Sudanese Pastors prepare for Ordination at Virginia Theological Seminary

Joseph Allak of the Diocese of Nebraska and Samson Mamour of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia are in their third and second years, respectively, of fulltime study towards the Master of Divinity degree. Joseph, after spending two years in residence in Alexandria, Virginia, has returned with his wife and four children to his home parish of All Saints, Omaha, where he will complete his final year of study on-line . One of the remaining courses he must complete is in church administration. Samson is back in residence at the seminary in Alexandria for his second year. His family remains at home in Roanoke, Virginia, where Peter Alier provides pastoral care for the congregation which meets at St. James Episcopal Church, and the Rev. Susan E. Bentley provides oversight.

Tale of Two Dioceses: Nzara, Episcopal Church of South Sudan, and Iowa, Episcopal Church of the United States

Since 2012 the Dioceses of Nzara and Iowa have maintained an active companion relationship, providing mutual prayer, fellowship and support. The bishops involved, including the Rt. Revd. Alan Scarfe, have found the relationship mutually transformative in terms of support, encouragement, and fellowship.

One important project in the Diocese of Nzara is the new Good Samaritan Birthing Center, a pre-natal and birth clinic serving over 500 mothers and infants every month. The Center was made possible thanks to a generous United Thank Offering grant supplemented by an International Development Grant from the Diocese of Iowa. The building was constructed by the faithful in Nzara town using local resources and labor. It is staffed by trained midwives who travel on bicycles to attend mothers in remote areas. The Center contains essential medical and clinical equipment, and the Mothers’ Union of South Sudan has assumed the responsibility of maintaining the inventory of basic equipment. This very successful project has already led to a lower mortality rate in Nzara for mothers and infants.

In February 2020 a large wildfire broke out in Nzara, displacing thousands of South Sudanese, leaving them without food or shelter. The Diocese of Iowa raised $15,000 to help Nzara with fire relief.

The Diocese of Nzara is launching an awareness campaign against Covid-19. The United Thank Offering has approved a grant to support this effort, supplemented by an International Development Grant from the Diocese of Iowa.

Another area of progress in Nzara is access to clean water. Aqua Africa, a non-profit organization based in Omaha, Nebraska, has built the first water tower in Nzara, operated and maintained by local personnel. This year deep wells in five remote villages in the Diocese have also been completed by Aqua Africa. These projects began with discussions that took place at the AFRECS conference in Des Moines, Iowa in 2016 — an example of the way the network which is AFRECS can lead to unexpected successes.

AFRECS Actions

A donation of $6,200, collected by the Sudanese Community Church and St. John’s Cathedral in the Diocese of Colorado in memory of the late beloved Fr. Ayyoubawaga Bushara Oja Gafour, was transferred in October to the Diocese of Kadugli, Episcopal Church of Sudan. These funds will be used by Bishop Andudu Adam el-Nail to support education for girls.

On Oct. 14, after the burning of the cathedral and killing of the dean at Makol Chuei, $2,000 was sent to assist the Diocese of Athooch, in the Internal Province of Jonglei, Episcopal Church of South Sudan, where the bishop is the Rt. Revd. Moses Anur Ayom.

On Oct. 15, Thomas H. Staal was elected to the AFRECS Board of Directors. Tom retired in 2019 as Counselor after a career with the United States Agency for International Development, starting as an emergency program officer in Khartoum in the aftermath of the East Africa famine of the mid-80s, then as a Food for Peace officer covering Ethiopia, southern Sudan, Uganda, and Somalia. Born in Bahrain to missionary parents, raised in Iraq and Kuwait plus boarding school in southern India, he holds degrees from Hope College (Michigan), Columbia University, and the National Defense University. Prior to his work with USAID, Tom had been country representative for World Vision International in Sudan, 1985 -88, and government relations representative for Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in Saudi Arabia, 1977-83. Tom’s wife, Ann, formerly taught music at the International School of Khartoum and Rosslyn Academy (Nairobi), earned an M.A. in theology at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, and is ordained in the Mekane Yesus Ethiopian Church.

Board Members editing this issue: Gwinneth Clarkson and Richard J. Jones