De La Salle Brothers Blog

Loved by God

Br Bill Firman — Sun, 06 May 2012 18:59:31 +0000

Outisde for the Sunday Eucharist

It is easy enough to accept that the poor deserve our special care and concern. That is quite straight-forward and not so threatening: we share the bounty we have received with those less fortunate. It is, however, an altogether greater leap in faith to accept that we should be happy and continue to praise God in wretched circumstances; but, in Agok, that is what the people do!

“They are living under trees with no food and little water”

An energetic man intent on helping his people, the local priest, Fr Biong, has found donors to pay for many truckloads of rough hewn timber, bamboo and matting to be brought to Agok. The people will make themselves tukuls – mud and stick walled houses with grass roofs. Fr Biong had arranged this for 6,400 households but just as he was getting ready to distribute the building materials, he found further displaced people had arrived. They are living under trees with no food and little water – more than 400 families, mostly women and children, who have fled from recent fighting. With the aid of the Governor of Abyei, Fr Biong managed to get 200 bags of sorghum for these recent arrivals but I am not sure how they will cook it as they have no pots or pans!

“Not once did I hear a teacher complain about their” We were in Agok to teach English to more than a hundred teachers. Some walked two hours each way to get to our classes. Attendance was very good. The parish provided a chair for each teacher but none had desks to use, even when they were sitting for tests. Not once did I hear a teacher complain about their situation – although two did complain that they thought I had given them one mark less out of a hundred than they deserved!

“I am very fine thank you

Where's my seat?

There are kids almost everywhere. Many are crowded into whatever classrooms are available while others are simplytaught in the open or under a tree. I don’t know how the schools will cope when rain arrives. The friendly children love to shake a Kawadja’s hand and call out, ’How are you?’ with a heavy accent on each of the words. The most common response when this question is asked is, ‘I am very fine thank you!’ One does indeed get the impression they do feel very fine thank you in this dry, dusty, desolate district. Perhaps, more than help with English, we bring them hope that they are not forgotten. We, as part of the Church, are walking with them in their search for a future that offers greater opportunity. Br Bill

Ominous Rumblings

Br Bill Firman — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:02:04 +0000

Br Bill with friends

It seems almost unbelievable to me that sensible men who know one another and usually seem to respect one another, even with their ideological differences, can be so belligerent towards one another. Surely they have a common goal of peace for their peoples. The northern leadership is now spruiking the ridiculous line that they are going to liberate the south from the SPLM, that is to say, to free the southerners from their own government. I guess there are many in the north who may believe this political line but it is not the reality!

What is more disappointing to me is that there are many in the South who seem to be cheering on and encouraging the provocative actions of their leaders. I was surprised to find in Yambio last Tuesday that all the shops were shut. The police had enforced closure because there was a rally in support of the taking of Heglig by the South. Yes, Heglig was part of the south in the 1950s but an international court did declare it part of the north a few years ago and that verdict seem to be accepted by the south – until very recently when the southern forces attacked and reclaimed it. So, for a change, moral right seems to reside more on the side of the north but strength on the ground lies with the south.

Why has the south done this? Perhaps because the north has been bombing targets in the south and some retaliation is seen as justified. The south is smaller but boasts many more citizens from it population genuinely willing to fight for their country. Here, well south in Yambio, there has been a call for young people to join militias and trucks have been seen heading off with soldiers/police to towards the north. The southern soldiers, as I write, are still in Heglig – maybe because the north lacks the strength on the ground to evict them. The north still has superior air power but on the ground it is probably a very different story.

We're here to learn

So what is going to happen? Hopefully, reason will prevail on both sides and, with international pressure being applied, both sides will begin to edge out of the corner into which they are pressing. The media has already reported declarations of war. The conflict is very localized at present and likely to remain so – at the northern borders of South Sudan – for quite some time. In spite of all the aggressive rhetoric, it may actually be a ‘phony war’ where neither side wants to give in nor does either side want it to get too serious! Among our Solidarity with South Sudan members there is no panic. We need Christians and Muslims to unite as believers in the one true God, common sons and daughters of Abraham – not crusading enemies! I continue to be optimistic – fundamentally because the leaders of both sides have too much to lose and the people want peace. Both countries require courageous leadership with a genuine vision for lasting peace. No-one really knows if that is what we have. – Br Bill

Time for Eternity

Br Bill Firman — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:00:50 +0000

The Holy Thursday liturgy was relatively short by South Sudanese standards – a little under two hours. Then there was the procession to the altar of repose – and the antiphonal singers sang, and the congregation responded, and the choir sang and sang and the people responded and responded! I found myself immersed in their awe and reverence – paused in time before God in eternity.

It was twenty minutes after the mass ended, before the altar of repose, that the first person made a move to leave. I found myself thinking, ‘These people have time for God and they are teaching me to have time too.’ God lives in eternity and we are called to God. Maybe we need to start practicing for life in eternity! If I am always impatient to get to the end the liturgy, then what kind of practice is that? Maybe we need to be ready for long liturgies – heaven is forever!

We have no television here. In fact I never even listen to the radio but I believe it is available. There is a phone tower under construction near by. Soon we shall have mobile phone coverage. I know some people who have already bought their sim cards for the new network. I have decided I don’t actually like mobile phones all that much. Too intrusive! Sometimes it is good to be non-contactable and left with time for ourselves and for those who are important to us .

I must confess, however, that I really rely on the internet. With internet access, I never feel isolated. The real missionaries were isolated, courageous – and no doubt sustained by the God for whom they always had time! I find myself thinking: ‘Why, with all the modern timesavers that have been invented, is there not time left for God?’

Here I hand-wash my clothes – which takes time – and often cook – which also takes time - and have to solve my own problems, like the flat battery I found in our vehicle yesterday – and yet there is still time for what I value.

Time is a gift that seems to rush past us –

but we are the ones who select the things for which we have time.

I know I am naturally impatient with what I perceive to be incompetence – or lack of decisiveness. But maybe it is right to take time to let the issues become clearer, the possibilities become more definite, and for the promptings of the Spirit to be heard. NO, I am not suddenly becoming very pious or sanctimonious, but it is dawning on me what is most important. It is not pleasure, as Freud would say, nor power as Adler would advocate, nor even meaning as Frankl argued, but it is taking time for what is important. I have always cherished the words of St Exuperien in ‘Le Petit Prince’,

‘It is the time you wasted for your rose, that makes your rose so important.’

So we must make the people we are with count, must have time for them, and must love them one at a time. And in doing so, we find God. God is eternal but we have only limited time. God is eternally patient but we cannot be so patient. We either make time for God or we don’t. We can find time for other pursuits we enjoy. I believe few people actually choose deliberately to reject God, but not enough give time to the God with whom they hope to share eternity. We are too busy barracking for Manchester United, Collingwood or the Sri Lankan First Eleven Cricket team! Why not cheer for God for a change? I would rather find God than later regret time wasted. – Br Bill

Sticks, Stones and Mangoes

Br Bill Firman — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:24:46 +0000

It may be very hot in South Sudan at present but this is the mango season and the people come energetically alive to eat great quantities of mangoes. Even one sister in our community ‘confessed’ she had eaten 20 mangoes today! It seems every child we see has a mango in his or her mouth – and a stick in hand to throw at some bountiful tree! I found myself thinking what a blessing the mangoes are but maybe it is not a blessing to be a mango tree. Many trees lose branches – overladen with the weight of mangoes! More boys finish in hospital at this time of the year, than any other, falling out of mango trees when branches break under the weight of boys pursuing the succulent fruit. The forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden is sometimes described as an apple. Highly unlikely in the hot climates of the Middle East! I think it would have been a mango. Mangoes, of course, are not actually forbidden fruit but rich and delightful food. The mango is a provident tree offering shade and, in season, nourishment. Yet it is rewarded not by tranquility and peace but by having sticks, stones and green mangoes tossed at it trying to dislodge the ripe mangoes. A mango tree gives generously yet is rewarded with attack and abuse. Perhaps the mango tree is unaware of the missiles hurled at it to dislodge the desirable mangoes. Trees are non-sentient. In due course, the tree will drop all of its mangoes. There is no real need for the attack by sticks and stones and long poles used for knocking off the fruit. The only reason for the attack is to get the fruit first, to make sure I, me, we, get plenty – and bad luck for the rest! Now this set me thinking about unjust treatment. In an act of total injustice, Jesus was hoisted on the tree of the cross and spat at and abused – just as some abuse the beautiful, shady, fruit-laden mango trees. It is trite, of course to compare the death of Jesus to the throwing of sticks and stones at a mango tree. But it is worth recalling our appreciation of what we value. We have many mango trees and we give many mangoes to others. We are not the planters but the beneficiaries of the wise old missionaries who planted the mangoes. It is on their shoulders we stand – or, should I say, on their strong roots and branches, we currently grow. It is not long ago that I didn’t care for mangoes very much. Even now I lack the skill to eat one without feeling like I need a bath afterwards! But mangoes are really a beauty discovered for me. Someone once described a weed as a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. I have discovered a lot about mangoes in South Sudan – and a lot about me! Like mangoes, most of what I have is a gift. My good health is a gift. The ‘hurt’ of living in a land distant from ones home is not any personal deprivation but more the unexpected deaths of those good friends and Brothers who have died while one is here. I have begun to realize it is always worthwhile saying properly what we think to be a temporary good-bye: it may become a farewell.The most integrated and wholesome person who ever lived was Jesus. He endured more than sticks and stones. We shall ponder this mystery again as we enter into Holy Week. The mango tree also reminds me that it matters little what people throw at us if we are bearers of good fruit. South Sudan is still a faith-filled nation. The people live with a simplicity and wholesome appreciation of gifts such as mangoes. If they had modern supermarkets and a bewildering choice of goods to buy, I guess that the mango season would not be such a highlight. Maybe it is the same with the Christian message. It becomes lost among a plethora of hedonistic possibilities. For me, Holy week and the mango tree have something in common. They both remind me to check what I really value. Easter is a time for sharing and appreciating. It is a time to stop throwing sticks and stones and to produce good fruit. May Easter bring you many blessings – and a mango or two if you may be so lucky! - Br Bill

Affirmative Action

Br Bill Firman — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 05:40:02 +0000

Brother Bill on a break

‘Which way to go?’ asks the Cheshire Puss in Alice in Wonderland. ‘Any direction is better than no direction’ comes back the reply. South Sudan is not quite like that but one does wonder, at times, exactly where the country is heading. The president, Salva Kiir, is reportedly very definite that he does not want to take the country back to war. That direction towards continuing peace may be a broad one but it is an important one. It is noticeable that some prices in the market, after a period of very high inflation, have begun to fall. Upwards galloping inflation was not a good direction. This is a welcome reversal of direction but the best signs of new directions I actually see in our own enterprises. We now have 76 resident students in our Catholic Health Training Institute in Wau. We have had more than 1500 teachers follow our in-service programmes and this week we began the delivery of pre-service training in both Yambio and Malakal for non-teachers wishing to become teachers. One problem in South Sudan is that teaching has not been a highly regarded occupation. I surmise that when ones own teachers have been untrained or very poorly trained, one does not become inspired to become a teacher oneself. ‘Example’ said Edmund Burke, ‘is the school of humankind and they will learn at no other’. Good teachers may inspire children to become teachers themselves but a poor teacher does not inspire anyone! Teachers, moreover, are also not paid well in South Sudan and sometimes have to wait months for the meagre pay they do receive. A further problem is the lack of educational opportunity for women and girls and the fact that there are very few women teachers Expressed pithily in the English spoken in South Sudan, ‘What to do?’ Last year the first eight girls graduated from Loreto Secondary School in Rumbek. In the normal course of events, these girls would have returned to their families and marriages would be arranged for them in the near future. Loreto, however, has significantly raised the expectations these girls have for themselves and six of these girls have returned to be part of a teacher-training programme we are offering at Loreto. Their families are happy to see them continue to be educated in a place where they are safe and secure. It is very unlikely, in this Dinka culture, that these girls would have been permitted to go elsewhere to do teacher training. One other girl has joined the class – and three men. I guess it would be the only teacher training class in South Sudan where women outnumber men! Now we are finding that the girls who will graduate from Loreto Secondary School over the next couple of years are asking will they receive the same opportunity. Taking training to the girls is creating a new dynamic. The idea of becoming a teacher is now firmly before them as a possibility. No doubt not all will become teachers. Some will rightly aspire to attend university or go into other professions but the girls are continuing to study and will be better prepared for future opportunities. Thanks to a gift of money from Canada, we have also been able to invite two women from Abyei and two from Nuba Mountains, both of which are disputed border regions where insecurity and violence are ongoing issues, to begin teacher training in Yambio. It is a great step forward that these women are now in our programmes. It will inspire more to follow. It is normally not easy to be a pioneer but the affirmative action with these women and girls will not only help them on their personal journeys but also lead others to adjust their thinking to new possibilities. I asked the class in Loreto was there any cultural practice they would like to see changed. One girl readily responded that women should be able to select their husband. One of the men in the class immediately disagreed! As an old priest once said to me as he walked with the aid of two sticks, ‘I may be slow but I am still moving’. While he was slowing down, I think we are speeding up maybe taking small steps initially, but significant ones in the right direction. When the Loreto Sisters first came here five years ago, they struggled to get a full class. This year there were 90 applicants for 30 places. SSS is pleased to be helping them in their important mission. – Br Bill

Brothers without Borders

Br Mark McKeon — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:21:51 +0000

Recently I had the opportunity to have a few days in Lipa in the Philippines. I stayed at the regional novitiate (Brothers training program) for the Pacific-Asia regional. There I met with young men from Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar, the Philippines and Malaysia. These young men are in the final months of their novitiate preparing to profess their first vows as a De La Salle Brother. Once they conclude their novitiate they will head back to their own countries to continue their studies. On a personal note, today marks the 30th anniversary of my reception of the habit (the robe of the Brothers). During my 30 years as a Brother I have had the opportunity to teach in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. I have also moved beyond the confines of the Pacific to assist in programs in Asia, Europe and the U.S.A. As I visit schools speaking to students about John Baptist de La Salle and my life as a Brother I say to them that each year in the Brothers gets better for me. Being a Brother is all about relationships; my relationship with God, my relationship with others and the relationship I have with myself. While the life of a Brother is not for everyone being a De La Salle Brother is a great life option. Peace, Bro Mark fsc

Oil is a curse

Br Bill Firman — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:47:47 +0000

In St John’s Gospel, chapter 11, we read about the death of Lazarus and the grief of his sisters Mary and Martha. The gospel also tells us that ‘Jesus wept’ even though he knew he was going to bring Lazarus back to life. When Jesus saw Mary’s grief, ‘he was deeply moved’. In fact, twice within a few lines, this phrase, ‘deeply moved’ occurs. Last week, this phrase took on new meaning for me. I travelled to the Abyei region in South Sudan, at the request of the parish priest, Father Biong. Fr Biong, is a Dinka, a big man with sparkling eyes, a young priest committed to helping his people. Those same eyes filled briefly with tears as he recalled and described the horrors of witnessing his people fleeing from the ravages of the destruction inflicted on them. Fr Biong was ‘deeply moved’ and indeed, visiting his people I found it deeply moving. These people, victims of war, displaced about 30 kms from Abyei to Agok, are living in very poor circumstances indeed. Abyei is oil rich but is a disputed territory in the northern part of South Sudan. Although most of the South has enjoyed relative autonomy and peace since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005, Abyei has twice been destroyed, firstly in 2008 and again in 2011 when the destruction was virtually total. The people have been forced to abandon their land which is now patrolled by an Ethiopian United nations force. Fr Biong describes seeing many dead bodies that were impossible to identify. The bodies were covered all over with a white substance, the evident victims of chemical weapons. Fr Biong took me to meet the Director of Education, the Head of UNICEF in Abyei, the Minister for Agriculture who is also the Deputy Governor, and the Governor of the Abyei region. The Governor lives in a tukul in a very small compound. The Deputy Governor lives next door in another tukul. We sat with the Governor for an hour in his ‘office’, plastic chairs around a plastic table under a blue sky! The next morning as he drove by, he stopped his car and jumped out to greet us. Unlike most ‘big men’ I have seen in other parts of South Sudan, he had no cavalcade of cars, no armed escort, just the one vehicle in which he travelled. The region has few resources and he is not a man who is going to waste any of them. The Governor said quite bluntly, ‘Oil is a curse. They can have it and keep it. We get absolutely no benefit from it.’ His heartfelt wish is simply that the people get back their land, the fertile country of their ancestors, from which they have been driven by others fighting for the wealth from underground oil. The Governor had come last year with Fr Biong to meet Fr Joseph and myself in Juba to ask our help in education and health care. Sr Dorothy Dickson, the Director of our Health Training Institute in Wau, visited Agok late last year and now there are two students enrolled in our registered nurse programme in Wau. I brought with me the good news that I had received money from Canada to sponsor two women to train as teachers in our first pre-service teacher training programme beginning in Yambio on March 12^th. Next to the tukuls, which constitute Fr Biong’s presbytery, and the open-sky fenced area that is his main Church, one of twenty-eight chapels in his parish, is the main parish primary school. The school has 2,200 pupils, almost no desks, only 100 chairs, very small portable blackboards and most of the shelters that function as classrooms have reed roofs which act as sunshades but do not keep out the rain. When it rains the students cannot sit down. UNICEF has also provided tents to act as classrooms. About 200 metres away is the Comboni primary school, another Catholic school with 1200 pupils, displaced from Abyei. Many of the people here do not live in tukuls but in temporary rakubas, reed wall shelters with tarpaulins thrown over the top – if they are lucky. The main languages spoken are Arabic and Dinka. We are going to offer nine weeks of intensive English instruction to ninety teachers this year and will begin the four-year in-service teacher training in 2013. We shall have to raise the finance to do this but it is a place where the Gospel calls us to be. Br Bill

The Gift of Hope

Br Bill Firman — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:47:22 +0000

The smiles of children and the inquisitive looks are wonderful. They take a wide-eyed view of the world and see everyone and everything as friendly. I enjoy winking at small South Sudanese children. They laugh and smile at my simple facial contortions. It seems winking is not part of the local repertoire of interaction techniques. The children make me laugh when they try hopelessly to wink back. I have come to believe it is unusual in South Sudan to see a woman who is not carrying, or caring for, a child. Grandparents come into play and one often sees a child passed into the arms of another adult – or sometimes to another sibling. Young children help nurse smaller children. There is no doubt that ‘people production’ is the major ‘industry’ of South Sudan. Yet so many children are a great gift of hope. They bring warmth, optimism and create family consolidation. It may be that there is disturbingly high ratio of 187 children out of every 1000 in Western Equatoria who die before the age of five whereas in Italy, it is only 4. The children I see here in South Sudan seem happy and content. Every generation is renewed by children who bring to adults the great gifts of hopefulness and optimism.What is a problem? An opportunity to find a solution! The man within me has several times said to himself here in South Sudan: ‘Now what the hell do I do about this?’ In every crisis, which usually simply results in doing without something for a limited period to time, I recall the oft-spoken words: ‘What will it matter in a hundred years?’ One step at a time usually brings an eventual solution. Life in South Sudan is a great call to be patient among a most patient people who seem not to care if speeches are long, functions starts late or liturgies last forever. Life is here to be enjoyed. It is not a race to get to the next moment!Some people, of course, face huge challenges in continuing to be hopeful. Recently I drove Sr Rosa to Yambio where she gave a cooking lesson to almost 40 women who were very lively and cheerful. A few had children with them. Sr Rosa taught them how to cook papaya (pawpaw) and prepare a green papaya salad. I joined them for an ample and tasty lunch – the outcome of the lesson. The women belong to the STAR Group organized by the Irish Christian Brothers. Br Bill Colford cfc from Canada is shown with Sr Rosa in a photograph. All of these women are HIV positive. The Brothers have a community in Yambio who work to support AIDs, and potential AIDs, sufferers. Another member of the community, Brother Julius Oluoch from Kenya, is a very valued teacher on the staff of our Solidarity Teacher Training College. I met recently with a fellow Australian, Brother Gerard Ellul, the leader of the Irish Christian Brothers in this sector of Africa. We both expressed our appreciation for the close and effective collaboration between SSS and the Christian Brothers in Yambio. As a boy growing up, I became aware of the rivalry between Catholic schools – and also, I suspect, the Brothers who conducted these schools. Maybe it is partially a consequence of being fewer in number today but I would hope that we really have come to understand that what unites is always far more important than what divides and collaboration normally leads to better outcomes than competition. Indeed, SSS is itself a great sign of hope in the Church because it is the collaborative enterprise of many different men’s and women’s religious congregations working together for the good of the people of South Sudan.I am pleased to attach a photo of recently arrived SSS member, Sr Margo Delaney, who not long ago concluded her term as Superior General of the Holy Faith Sisters. She is sitting with teachers at the Loreto school in Rumbek where we have launched a special teacher training programme designed to improve the opportunity for girls and women in South Sudan education. Such things become possible if we act together with hopeful determination, even if we have to step outside our narrow traditions. Br Bill

Significant Impact

Br Bill Firman — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:12:39 +0000

Three weeks of the Solidarity with South Sudan (SSS) teacher training in-service programmes have now been completed in Malakal and Yambio and two weeks in each of Leer and Rumbek. SSS staff are training teachers in four out of the ten South Sudan States but are accepting residential students from all States. In one of the four States, Western Equatoria, SSS is also developing an agricultural programme (at Riimenze) which helps provide food for the 40 students in residence, and the 55 day students, in Yambio. In a fifth State, the SSS registered nurse training and mid-wifery programmes have resumed. In the capital, Juba, in Central Equatoria, a sixth State in which we are based, SSS pastoral programmes and our South Sudan central administration are located. Recently it was pleasing to meet an Australian delegation in Juba, led by Sudanese-born Australian, George Meat Pietch who is soon to be ordained as a married deacon in Australia. He was accompanied by Fr Tony Feeney, a Melbourne parish priest, and Br Michael Lynch, a Salesian, on their mission to set up a well-resourced Catholic school in Bentieu, the birthplace of George. I later met George again in Malakal when he visited his wife’s family. George, who is from the Nuer tribe, was not accompanied on this trip by his Shilluk wife, who remained in Australia to care for their six children. In recent months, we have welcomed several new members to our long-term resident team delivering teacher training: Sisters Carolyn Buhs and Sally Frommelt from the USA and Sr Margo Delaney from Ireland. We also have seven volunteers working with us in teacher training: Sr Yvonne Pothier from Canada, here for a second visit, this time for almost 12 months; Sr Antonine Meleady from Canada on her third visit, this time for almost six months; and five other volunteers for just over two months, Brothers David Zande and Geoff Kennewell from Australia, along with their lay compatriots, Terry Farrell, Henry Corcoran and Michael Watty. Two further volunteers are from the Volunteer Mission Movement in Ireland: Rob Beesley here to manage the agricultural project and Julie Orr assisting with financial administration and accountability. If the above seems like a lot of names, be aware that I have not mentioned the three permanent members of our Juba community, the three in Riimenze, three in Yambio, six in Malakal and seven in Wau. But I shall mention Fr John Barth, a Maryknoll priest from the USA, who is a very welcome recent addition to the team in Wau. A Kenyan Irish Christian Brother, Brother Julias Oluoch, is an addtional long-term staff member but resides in his congregational community in Yambio rather than an SSS community. Here in South Sudan, we currently total 22 ‘permanent’ staff and 9 volunteers on shorter placements. Two additional long-term religious are soon to join our Solidarity Teacher Training College (STTC) team: Sr Sandra Amado a Comboni Sister from Brazil and Br Joseph Alak from South Sudan. Sandra has been working in Juba for almost five years already and Br Joseph was raised in Juba before joining the De La Salle Christian Brothers when living in Cairo. Their familiarity with Sudanese culture will be of great assistance to our mission. My principal focus is teacher training. I am pleased to report that, with the great assistance of the volunteer extra tutors and three hired South Sudanese teachers, our STTC tutors are currently delivering in-service training to 290 teachers of whom 65 are women. Yes we would like to see a much higher percentage of women but given that there are only 400 female students in the final year of secondary education in the whole of South Sudan, the figures are understandable. A UNESCO report published in July 2011 stated: Today, a young girl in South Sudan is three times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than to reach grade 8. I know SSS is making a significant impact. So far we have only taken a few important steps down a long road but it is the right road. That is what matters. Br Bill

We can make a difference

Br Bill Firman — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:44:48 +0000

Enormous resources have been poured into South Sudan since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in January, 2005. What signs of genuine progress are there among the ordinary people as a result of this? Is there any evidence that there is more opportunity emerging for the people generally? Some things are very noticeable: more school buildings, more vehicles, more variety of goods, even with the current shortages. But severance from the north has come at a cost. One sister wrote recently: ’I like Malakal but I liked the old Malakal more’.. .. . when there was town power most nights, diesel fuel was relatively cheap, fresh fruit, vegetables and eggs were there in the market and gas was available. There is no doubt, I believe, that new supply routes will be opened up and that readjustment will occur. I asked a class recently, ‘Was the war worth it?’ There were plenty of responses giving reasons why it was, even from those who lost family members during the war. Among this class of young men and women between the ages of 19 and 30, only 12 out of 32 still enjoyed having their fathers alive. The mothers of 26 of this class were still living but in most of their families some siblings had also died. The war was directly responsible for the death of many people but indirectly for many more who died from starvation, poor health care and harsh living conditions. Yet the major gain has been continuing peace and a pervading sense of the people now controlling their own destiny. During this past week I spent a few days with Sr Pat Murray IVBM, Executive Director, of SSS, visiting the Loreto Secondary School for Girls established just outside of Rumbek in South Sudan. We were most impressed by the standard of English used by the girls and their confidence and poise – young women now looking to the future. The girls spoke openly about how hard it was for them to live with each other when they first arrived at school, coming from different tribal groups with differing customs; but now, as the first graduating group, they feel confident, assured and ambitious. The three Irish Loreto Sisters leading the staff have developed a well set-up school, by Sudanese standards, but still with many development needs. The Loreto girls are looking at a very different future now that quality schooling is available to them. Among them is an Australian Sudanese girl who has left the rest of her family in Sydney and returned to Sudan to finish her education with the ambition of helping her people. She is not sure when she will next be able to visit her family. She found South Sudan very hard at first but has now re-established herself in the culture of her birth. What I particularly noticed was that these girls were like girls anywhere, chatting and laughing, conscious of appearance, posing for photographs with flowers – and friends. Many of these, girls who were raised in bush tukuls, now enjoy familiarity with an emerging world of new possibilities. The girls wander in and out of the Sisters’ convent very confidently. They are treated respectfully as valued persons and friends, not just students in a school. I am told it was far from easy, especially at first, with some difficult confrontations leading to some ‘winnowing’ of the first crop of students but what has endured is a very friendly and expanding group of students working hard to benefit from the opportunity offered them. So I have no doubt committed people make a huge difference. Now that I am teaching in our Catholic Health Training Institute in Wau, I am observing something similar to what is happening at Loreto. Give young people a chance, and guidance, and reap the rewards. Quality can only bloom if opportunity is provided. Br Bill