The Nile and the Sudd

During this past week, Sister Ninet and I visited the relatively remote town of Leer in Unity State, a region in which there are close to 20,000 people, mostly of the Nuer tribe. In this area, one is close to the ‘The Sudd’, the world’s largest marsh covering an area of 30,000 km² in the dry season and 130,000km² in the wet. This is the dry season and, in fact, very dry. Father Francis, the parish priest of Leer, pointed out several areas that he had never seen dry – until this year! 

Sisters, Adriana from Ecuador and Myriam from Mexico, had urged us to come to Leer. Only two teachers in this large town have had any form of teacher training. Brother Nichola met us at the airport in Thar Jath and then transported us to Leer. Thar Jath is oil territory. Flying into Thar Jath, one cannot but notice the network of towers and power cables that rise above the long grass of the swampy landscape. The roads in this region and the airport at Thar Jath have been improved greatly to service the oil industry.  

As we drove away from Thar Jath, we saw some people walking – and many more fishing, washing, playing or collecting water from the pools and ponds in among the long grass and reeds beside the road. Several times we stopped or slowed to negotiate our way around cattle herded along the road. Was this an example of an idyllic, rural, subsistence for the Nuer people?

When oil was discovered, the local people were displaced from their land and promised new homes and revenue from the oil. Two percent of revenue goes to the producing state. I have read, but have not been there, that Bentiu, the capital of Unity State, is thriving. I know that Khartoum in the north is also a prosperous city. But there is no sign of relocation, new homes or prosperity here.  

In fact, the very water where children play, drink and fish is polluted with heavy metals used in the oil extraction process. We were told there is now a company coming from Germany with the technological capability of supplying a remedy to the drilling technique that causes the pollution but it is not clear how much the poisoned ground water and the dependant food chain can be purified. The high price some people are paying for the wants of others! 

It is not acceptable that people from developed countries utilise flawed technology that destroys the lives of the poorest people. Getting it near enough to correct is simply not good enough. 

Yet our visit to Leer was not depressing. We were made very welcome by the six religious who live there are at present – each living in a simple tukul and cheerfully interacting with the people in a mutually respectful way. The Sisters told us that when they went to Leer three years ago, they were told they would be in tukuls for three months while a house was built for them. Three years later they are still in tukuls – although they usually sleep outdoors under the stars in the dry season. The less said about their primitive showers and toilets the better! The house is nearly finished but is held up by the lack of an available tiler and plumber. They laugh, but are grateful for what they have. 

The Sisters are not looking forward to the wet season as the tukuls, attacked by white ants, leak – as does their dining room – and the mud, similar tacky, sticky mud to the kind we endure at Malakal, is also prevalent in Leer. Walking in gumboots through the mud is slow and difficult. 

We saw only two schools – one a central primary school with a thousand pupils and twenty-three teachers and one that was built further out two years ago as a school for girls but was never quite finished and has never opened. Near enough is not enough! It has no chairs, no desks, no power, no plumbing, has a rough unfinished floor, has poor access and has been vandalised extensively. Unfortunately, this is part of the tragedy of Southern Sudan. A house or school is almost built. Resources are provided that almost reach the people. But near enough is not good enough.

We shall be going to Leer as it is important to reach into these areas of Southern Sudan. There was a secondary school in Leer. It closed because of a shortage of teachers. There are many thousands of kids in Leer but no secondary school and not enough primary schools. The radiant cheerfulness of Sister Adriana and Brother Nichola, the persistence and common sense of Father Francis and Sister Myriam, the adaptability of Sister Anna, working with catechists, and Sister Agatha, opening a kindergarten, are great assets as they work resolutely with the people. We shall endeavour to assist these missionaries and the people of Leer. 

The elections are almost here and the referendum will soon be here but near means nothing. What is important is that these key events be done well. To be a ‘teacher’ is also not enough. It is important we be good teachers. That is why we are in Sudan and that is why we shall go to Leer.         

Br Bill