Coming Soon: Summer in South Sudan
Greetings, anyone who reads this. I'm taking a summer position in South Sudan.
Right now, I expect to be located in Juba, and working on broad research for my org. But as the refugee situation seems to be getting a little out of control (140,000 people), and the US, thanks to the sage wisdom and advice of George Cloony, has just thrown $26 million into the fray, which no doubt every NGO will be all over like so many piranhas on spam, I expect that my position description will be "flexible."
Here's the general landscape, from a **western perspective (**caveat): South Sudan is the newest country in the world. The two regions, north and southern Sudan were distinct socio-politically long before independence in the 50s. But the British, on their way OUT the door mind you, decided to unify the entire state under one government, giving few positions to Southern Sudanese. As you probably know, it all went SUPER well. The Sudanese have been struggling with complex political fractures and civil war(s), tribal violence and genocide (see Darfur), warlords and child solders (see Joseph Kony, Thomas Lubanga, etc.) drought and starvation (see, like ANY photos) . . . for the better part of the last century. Basically any South Sudanese citizen younger than 70 has lived in a perpetual atmosphere of armed conflict.
South Sudan became an independent state in July, 2011. Completely landlocked, it is surrounded by DR Congo, Central African Republic, Uganda, Egypt and Ethiopia, to name a few. It's neighbors don't illicit strong feelings of stability. Independence also cut off Sudan's access to the oil-rich region of Unity, which has gone over poorly. There are those that say the two countries are "close" to war. I would like to point to the already shelled out border region and the 140,000+ refugees, and then suggest a different adjective.
So we'll see how this goes. Obviously there's a chance the security situation may deteriorate in such a way that prohibits my travel there. I hope that doesn't happen. I'll also get to be there for the 1 year anniversary of independence, which could be a kick in the pants. Let's just see how the next couple months go, shall we?
Right now, I expect to be located in Juba, and working on broad research for my org. But as the refugee situation seems to be getting a little out of control (140,000 people), and the US, thanks to the sage wisdom and advice of George Cloony, has just thrown $26 million into the fray, which no doubt every NGO will be all over like so many piranhas on spam, I expect that my position description will be "flexible."
Here's the general landscape, from a **western perspective (**caveat): South Sudan is the newest country in the world. The two regions, north and southern Sudan were distinct socio-politically long before independence in the 50s. But the British, on their way OUT the door mind you, decided to unify the entire state under one government, giving few positions to Southern Sudanese. As you probably know, it all went SUPER well. The Sudanese have been struggling with complex political fractures and civil war(s), tribal violence and genocide (see Darfur), warlords and child solders (see Joseph Kony, Thomas Lubanga, etc.) drought and starvation (see, like ANY photos) . . . for the better part of the last century. Basically any South Sudanese citizen younger than 70 has lived in a perpetual atmosphere of armed conflict.
South Sudan became an independent state in July, 2011. Completely landlocked, it is surrounded by DR Congo, Central African Republic, Uganda, Egypt and Ethiopia, to name a few. It's neighbors don't illicit strong feelings of stability. Independence also cut off Sudan's access to the oil-rich region of Unity, which has gone over poorly. There are those that say the two countries are "close" to war. I would like to point to the already shelled out border region and the 140,000+ refugees, and then suggest a different adjective.
So we'll see how this goes. Obviously there's a chance the security situation may deteriorate in such a way that prohibits my travel there. I hope that doesn't happen. I'll also get to be there for the 1 year anniversary of independence, which could be a kick in the pants. Let's just see how the next couple months go, shall we?
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