Sudan

Day 1 // 31.05.2005

We arrive in Nairobi without any problems. Tension is mounting. How are the people here? Who knows the situation? What is ahead of us? We meet Communication Officer Ben Parker. He tells us what we will be doing. First we will take a very small plane to fly to Loki; we can expect the first heat wave there. Then we will be taken on to Yambio, where the temperature is supposed to be more tropical. The rainy season in the rainforest started two weeks ago there.

Having received that information we go to bed, since we will have to get up at 5.30 a.m.

Day 2 // 01.06.2005

We’re off. We meet at 6 a.m. and go to the airport. Nairobi doesn’t look very attractive at dawn. But the plane is fine and the flight is actually wonderful. We get an idea of the vastness of Kenya and a glimpse of Mount Kenya. Loki is in the north of this East African country. All the relief work carried out by charities in South Sudan is organised from here. UNICEF has been taking the lead with Lifeline for 20 years now.

As we fly on to Yambio with a stopover in Rumbek, the landscape is looking increasingly dry and the landing strip is really just a runway in the middle of nowhere. We start to talk about the natives for the first time. Contact is mostly made via the camera. That’s because everyone likes to be photographed and then see themselves on the screen of the digital camera. That is the case with a boy who tells us proudly that he goes to school – and that he’s already in the fourth grade. But then he is already 19 years old. Most children and adolescents are “soldiers” here.

When we get to Yambio we see that the vegetation is very green again and that the climate is humid. The roads to the UNICEF camp are extremely bumpy. Unfortunately we have been running late and have missed the Commissioner. Instead we get to know the local bureaucracy. You first have to get hold of the “Arm for Help” who then takes you to the Community Chief – a former rebel leader, one of the few women officers and now mayoress of Yambio. Since we are too late, the meeting is postponed until tomorrow.

Instead we get to see an information centre where the young people meet to surf the net. More than a dozen kids make use of this facility, but there are just two computers for them to share.

The internet helps them to locate friends or relatives who have disappeared during the war. They learn how to use the technology in a learning centre, where there are three more computers. Girls can visit the centre at specified times as well. The facility appears to be very important for all of them in this otherwise mediaeval environment. 


We then visit a market, but of course this is empty, as we are already into evening. There are problems with our film-shoot. But I have another opportunity to talk to some of the youngsters. I feel that this is almost more important than anything else, because it’s the only way you can get a real feel for the people and their life. The kids all have Christian names such as Abraham or Peter, and they go to school. They are in grades four to eight, and some of them are even in secondary school. School is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The children bring their own food or can buy something there. A large group of us sit around and discuss events as the evening draws to a close.

Day 3 // 02.06.2005

We meet at 7.30 a.m. Now we have to walk along very poor roads to where there is water, although at this time of the morning a lot of women and girls are already busy fetching water to use. But people also do their washing or clean their bicycles here. A bicycle is a status symbol in this region – and it is cleaned like that too.

We go on to a school that impresses us greatly. A class of about 30 girls up to 12 years old is being taught in an adobe hut under a reed roof. The teacher is just 21 years old herself. She now possesses two books – one for maths and one for learning to read. The writing on the board is scarcely legible in this dark room. This class has only been in existence for four months and when we ask what else they need urgently, the teacher tells us that they need books and – curiously – school uniforms. The school is near a village because if it is too far away, parents do not send their daughters to school.

The next school we visit is a similar construction. But here the girls have been taught for a year and a half now. They can already read and write a little. And they show us what they have learned, by counting simple sticks of wood in their mother tongue and in English. The teacher is 22 and is paid a monthly salary of 20 dollars by UNICEF. But that only happens in the girls’ schools, because paying a salary really runs counter to UNICEF’s fundamental principle of helping people to help themselves. The teacher takes us to his home. One of the pupils is his sister. A distance we were told would take 15 minutes on foot turns out to be 15 minutes’ drive away. His family lives in several huts. The kitchen has a roof and an open fire. Everything seems well looked after and tidy. The whole family, i.e. the clans, live together. The mother tells us that two other sons have been teachers too. She doesn’t know exactly how old they were. Nor does she know the number of children she has had. She mentions ten, and that eight have died. One daughter is HIV-positive and lies wrapped in a blanket near the fire. The animals – goats, dogs and chickens – are all running round free. The lack of development in everyday life and the need to catch up are evident wherever we look. The conversation returns to the great demand for teachers. The few that are there are still so young themselves. I am pleased that some of our aid project is concerned with training teachers.

We continue to Mary Biba, the mayoress. An unusual women who has served in the rebel army, which is evident from her appearance. Since she herself was once a teacher, she also understands the need to educate girls and promises to make a personal contribution. The new government will be formed in the middle of July and that is when “classes” will also be introduced. We explain that part of the funds must be used for training teachers. It is not right that UNICEF has to pay their salaries. That is something the state must do. An ostensibly important representative suddenly speaks up and complains that UNICEF is doing too little, but then that all seems part of the standard procedure. The last person to speak is a young, eloquent man who reminds everyone of the needs of the children, and that we should not forget them. He was very impressive – a few more like him and the country could do well in future.

Next on the agenda is a visit to a secondary school for girls. This school has a very committed headmistress who does her best to give her 120 pupils a good education – which includes internet courses. But here too everything is of course in short supply. Compared to others, though, this school gives the impression of being very forward-looking. The headmistress is wondering where her pupils can sit their final examination. But there is no opportunity for this yet, and Uganda is too far away.

Our next stop is a school for girls that had dropped out of education for some reason. The school is for girls and women up to the age of about 25 – although some of them are even older. Many of them have their babies with them. In the past women were not allowed to go to school if they were pregnant. Other reasons for breaking off their studies were poverty, which meant that they were no longer able to afford the school fees, or getting married – or they were not sent to school to start with, because girls are not considered intelligent enough. And why are they here now? They want to set an example for their children and can see that education open up more opportunities for them. It is lovely to experience how openly they discuss these issues and that they are now even getting support from their husbands.

The last stop of the day is at a pumping station, which the people here regard as a miracle. The women have to walk 15 minutes to get water. A chicken is sacrificed to ensure that they find it.

The day ends with a relaxed dinner that is also attended by some members of the government. One of them is Mary Biba. The conversation is very informative. We find out a great deal about the status of women. They are not allowed to own land or money. And frequently they are not even allowed to go to school. After all, between one and five cows, and occasionally even 20 cows, are paid for a woman on marriage. And then cows are again required to make it possible for the sons to get married.

The women cannot choose whom they marry. The men, on the other hand, can enter into several marriages. This means a girl is seen as an investment that can be cashed in when she has her first period.

Day 4 // 03.06.2005

Today we visit Rumbek Primary School. There are 1,200 girls here, who are taught up to eighth grade. However, last year only six completed their schooling. This year the number will drop to just four. The school’s headmaster again mentions that they need a fence, uniforms, books and money for the teachers. The fence is necessary because the condition of the facilities leaves a great deal to be desired. A washroom without a roof over it has been completely contaminated with excrement from people coming in from outside.

We visit class 4 and talk to some of the pupils. They reinforce what the headmaster said in terms of what the school needs. All things considered, they were eager for knowledge and seemed rather switched on. The 26 teachers have slight problems in keeping the 1,200 girls under control during our visit. Some classes are taught in the open. Behaviour that is essential for survival is communicated by a play. Even though the lessons are held in Dinka, the message is quite clear.

The topic today is hygiene and everyday things we regard as perfectly obvious, such as the need to wash our hands before a meal and after going to the toilet. Since diarrhoea is an major problem in Sudan, the importance of such seemingly minor aspects is also pointed out at school.

In the afternoon we meet up with four girls who left the school in Rumbek last year and are now in the first form of the secondary school. The journey to the school takes them all of two hours. The girls want to be pilots or doctors when they grow up. Even so, I found the situation very depressing.

That is partly because of the teacher shortage and because they don’t get a salary. We can only hope that this will change when the new government takes over in July.

On the other hand the number of girls who complete their education is frustratingly small. The tradition of early marriage must be broken – and regarding girls as a financial investment is an unacceptable attitude. Education for the families is required.

Day 5 // 04.06.2005

Our last visit is to a school for demobilised soldiers, i.e. child soldiers. 800 pupils – and the state of the school is pitiful. Seeing the boys here makes me very sad. Most of them have been traumatised and have learned no language apart from shooting. Some of them were even drafted at the age of six. Moses tells us his life story – he joined the army at 15. We find the stories he tells us about his daily routine as a soldier simply unimaginable and extremely upsetting. He describes violent combat operations... Now he is particularly proud that he has completed his education and has become a teacher. Then he shows us his home as well. It is an adobe hut – and complete chaos. The Sudanese boys seem to revel in untidiness just like my own sons. Moses and I had to laugh about that a lot. But then I didn’t fancy visiting a latrine behind bamboo canes and covered in blowflies.

It’s already time for us to return home. In Nairobi we meet up with the UNICEF representative for South Sudan, Simon. We discuss with him that we would like to support the Girls C. School in Yambio.

Why did we decide on Sudan in the first place? Because it is one of the poorest countries in the world. After 21 years of civil war and a death toll of two million, the country urgently needs help. Hope has been growing since the peace in January – and that has to be fostered through aid. Education gives the children opportunities that they did not have in the past. Three people out of four are illiterate. And educating the individual helps the community, which in turn helps to maintain peace in the country and therefore in the rest of the world. The gap between rich and poor must not get any larger. That is why children and young people in countries such as this must be given a chance. They are the future – and in Sudan they make up the majority of the population: as a result of the civil war, 55 per cent here are under 18.