Refugee Congolese

The wig was almost falling off the back of her the little girl’s tiny head. A small boy with laughing eyes crouched behind her while another in a ‘Joe Cool’ T-shirt stood at the back. They had come to request a lolly from kindly Sister Cathy. These are the children of Juba and this is their world.

I often find myself thinking, when I see young children, that where they are is their whole world. Most have never ventured far from home. Their entire world, especially in the more remote areas, consists of the local tribe and the tukuls with grass roofs and dirt floors in which they live, with no gas, electric power, nor running water. They learn to carry water and to cook over charcoal fires. They are too young to remember the war. Yes, they do see cars drive by and planes fly overhead but they live in a happy simplicity. One sees very small children wandering around roads, or playing, with no watching adult anywhere nearby. This is mostly a safe world – unless it is made hazardous by the LRA or other militias showing scant respect for human rights.

The children in the Congolese refugee camp at Makpundu are alienated from their home country. I imagine they must share some of the anxiety of their parents about the activities of the LRA. They welcome the reassuring presence of Fr Mario and the support provided by our Sisters in Riimenze. Yet they are cheerful, like children normally are, smiling, laughing, playing games and tolerating, if not enjoying, schooling – if they are lucky enough to go to school. They love to be photographed and laugh excitedly when shown their own image in the digital screen of the camera. So do some adults, but many in the cities object to having their photos taken.

The questions in my mind are not profound. Why would any mother, especially in this climate, place a red wig on the head of her very small daughter? How hungry for food, or affection, is this child at the door? How have they learned to cope with environmental hazards such as mud, snakes and scorpions? Sister Margaret and I were walking down the road at Nzara when she spotted a large snake moving towards a pile of cut-down tree trunks. Her call alerted a teenage boy who calmly threw rocks at the 2.5 metre cobra successfully encouraging it to slither away. Margaret and I kept our distance! The bush and such hazards in it are part of their world.

Into this world, minus the snakes but replete with rain and mud, we were very pleased to welcome Br Ambrose, the Australian Provincial of the De La Salle Brothers, who first issued the invitations to Br Denis and myself to come here. ‘Welcome to our World’ we said, not in those terms but in expressed appreciation of his taking the time to understand better this unique world of the people of Southern Sudan. It is certainly good to have such cheerful and encouraging support. Br Ambrose was also pleased to meet up with our Indian confrere, Br Heldon whom he knows from previous visits to India, and other SSS (Solidarity with Southern Sudan) members.

Peter Stemp, from the USA, arrived on the same plane from Addis Ababa as Br Ambrose, to begin a six-week familiarisation visit to Southern Sudan. For some of us to be able to live and work in this third world country of Southern Sudan requires a lot of fundraising by others in the first world. Peter has joined the SSS team to prepare project submissions to various trusts and philanthropic organizations, not only to seek funds for capital development but to assist us in achieving long term self-sustainability. A key goal is to develop our work so that we can gradually hand over viable enterprises to be continued by Sudanese people themselves.

Jesuit priest, Teilhard de Chardin, wrote that ‘The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of oneself to others.’ Some of us can give by service and some by support, financial and otherwise. Afro-American poet, Dr. Maya Angelou wrote: ‘I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.’ The world of the liberated is a good place in which to be.

Br Bill