Guest blog by Peter: Sojourn in Southern Sudan

Having reported on the ghastly bus trip to Lusaka en route to Sudan, it only seemed reasonable to extrapolate on what I was doing there and how the rest of the trip fared. (Would the bus win again or would our hero overcome the odds and prevail?)

Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation, where I am seconded by MCC, was asked to partner with a young NGO in southern Sudan (RECONCILE) to set up a certificate program in Conflict Transformation. The former coordinator from MEF's Peace Centre traveled to Sudan about a year ago to facilitate a curriculum workshop in which the plans for the certificate program were laid. Then, in March, a delegation from RECONCILE came to MEF for further discussions and to move the process along. We drafted an MOU at that point that reflected our agreements to exchange staff and so forth. It was also tentatively agreed that a Peace Centre staff would travel to Sudan in early October to work out any last kinks before the certificate program launched in early 2009. So, RECONCILE contacted us on 24 Sept inviting someone to come for some planning meetings that they had scheduled for 6-8 Oct. It was a scramble to figure out if funding was available (shared between MEF and RECONCILE) to make travel possible. Then it was a matter of figuring out who from the Peace Centre would go. The lot fell to me.

Getting into southern Sudan is no small feat. Sudan ended 21 years of civil war in 2004 with a peace agreement that is glorified cease fire. Thus, the split between the north and south is still pretty much in place until they have a referendum regarding what to do in 2011. Happily, this split allowed me to purchase a 'visa' from the south Sudan government on arrival (rather than having to wait 4-6 weeks if I was traveling to the north). To arrive in time for the meetings that were to begin on 6 Oct, I had to fly to Uganda on 3 Oct (Brendan's birthday), and then hop on a small plane on 4 Oct into Yei. Flight service between Entebbe and Yei happens 3x a week.

I arrived safely and began to take in my surroundings. RECONCILE, started in 2003 by the New Sudan Council of Churches when it was operating from Kampala, was given some land by the Anglican church in Yei. On these acres they have begun to construct their compound buildings (offices, meeting spaces, staff housing, student housing, etc). They began work on the land in 2006 and have made some good progress. In many ways, things were fairly rustic but there was running water, electricity and a satellite dish brought in internet of fair speed.

The room where we had our meetings
An afternoon volleyball game - we often lost the ball in the tall grass around the court

My arrival on Saturday put me in the middle of the process underway. The staff had been meeting for the past few days in a kind of retreat and team-building mode. On Monday, they were to embark on strategic planning. I wondered a little bit about why they had felt it was so important for me to come join them for this particular exercise, especially once it became clear that my role would be one of observer so that the staff could have full input into the direction of their organization. Partly, I learned later, the impetus for someone from MEF coming to observe this process was that RECONCILE was feeling like they needed to prove that they are a legitimate operation with viable programs and facilities to carry out the certificate program on which we are collaborating. So I was in the role of inspector. And I suppose that had some truth to it. However, the greater purpose, in my mind, was to have further face to face contact with these colleagues so that we could hammer out details. The certificate that RECONCILE wants to offer, in collaboration with MEF, will be quite similar to certificates (3-month) that MEF has offered in the past. Such certificates can put holders in advance standing if they want to go on to complete the diploma (9-month) at MEF.

In any case, I was able to have some conversations about the program on the side for the first few days and then, on Wed afternoon, we had a couple of solid hours for discussion. By the end of these, I felt like the trip had been productive and had accomplished the goal intended. This was good, because I was scheduled to fly back to Entebbe on Thursday morning. That flight was delayed (who knows why) by a couple of hours but it didn't matter because I was going to have to stay overnight again just as I did on the way up. I was ticketed to fly at 05:10 to Nairobi and then 08:30 from there to be in Lusaka by 12:00. However, Kenya Airways did not have the proper aircraft in place, so the flight to Lusaka was recheduled to depart Nairobi at noon. This was going to make it harder to catch a bus from Lusaka and get home at a reasonable time. But I wanted to try anyway.

In the end, it all worked out. Though I was delayed in Nairobi a couple of hours, I was able to get on a bus in Lusaka in the late afternoon. I waited for only 35 minutes before it filled and left (our hero prevails) and walked in the door to home sweet home by 10pm.

It was a good trip, but I was sure ready to be home. I was impressed by the work and spirit of RECONCILE. It was also apparent that the Sudan Council of Churches had managed to remain a viable actor in the midst of the years of war and I felt grateful for how God demonstrated faithfulness in this way.