The war effects still grave in South Sudan

By Roba Gibia

March 19, 2009 – In the early days and prior to the Anya-nya movement and after Addis Ababa accord in 1972, people in the rural areas as I have witnessed in my own village, has to keep an eye and constant watch over their crops by day and sometimes during the night to prevent them from being devoured by packs of baboons, wild animals and myriads of birds. And whenever you travel or walk around in the country-side, you can meet and see lots of wild animals and baboons, rats, rabbits, guinea fowl and monkeys and especially in mountainous and thick forestry. When driving in any part of South Sudan, you will meet on the way variety of animals and especially gazelles, baboons and guinea fowls along the roads which exhibits the richness of South Sudan’s animal resources.

During the SPLM/A and marginalized people of Sudan’s struggle for liberty against the radical Islamic government in Khartoum, for the past over two decades in south and other parts of Sudan, was one of the longest and devastating war which South has ever witnessed. Simply because the war doesn’t wreck and annihilate human lives only but the entire living creatures, which caused locust exodus of wild animals and birds to neighboring countries, just like the people whom were displaced in their own country and forced to desert South Sudan from extermination. The wild animals and birds were just like human beings that can feel the incoming dangers and devastating situation like the mankind. Thus, in my view the war in south doesn’t affect only human beings but the entire living creatures, which its effects still grave and visible in South Sudan after four years of peace agreement. Besides that there are numerous unknown diseases that were not found in south prior to the war, but it is now common and harvesting lives of South Sudanese on daily basis but without proper diagnoses and researches to find out the actual type of diseases. In addition to that, blindness has become the common and chronic disease which almost the entire people in South Sudan are suffering from. But there are not specialized eye centers in South Sudan except Buluk Eye Center in Juba which is treating and performing eye operations in various parts of South as well as Nuba Mountains. Thus, according to Baranda Kagi, Medical Assistant Doctor at eye center in Buluk, said that blindness is the most extensive disease in South Sudan and, it is a must for almost everyone, especially rural areas people to take medication against blindness which is caused by OV, river blindness and filariasis. Explaining that when they went to Awiel for two weeks last January 2009, they were operating three hundred eye patients per day and, this great number in my view exhibits the actual magnitude of blindness in South Sudan.

When I visited Central and Western Equatoria states in last February 2009 and while driving from Juba, I was expecting to see giraffes, baboons, guinea fowls, rabbits and gazelles like I used to see prior to Anya-nya movement and after Addis Ababa agreement, but unfortunately none of these animals were not at sight. Same thing when I reached deep into country-side, I was longing to see rabbits, squirrels, rats or guinea pig and even snakes and scorpions but unfortunately couldn’t see any of these creatures or hear their voices! Then, I drove deep into jungle by land cruiser to Wiroh and Wari mountains, hoping to see any of these creatures but it is hard to find them. Hence, I wondered and asked my fellow villagers as what has gone wrong with these animals? I was told that these animals have been eaten up during the movement struggle, especially in our home village where the Sudan Armed Forces camped, and when they were defeated and evicted by SPLA, it became the camp for SPLA forces. Therefore, the few remaining wild animals which are still around, have become smart, and are always in hiding and watchful, and it will never appear or be scared of noise or movement unless if you step on it, because it is aware that if it appears or starts to run, it will be shot.

I still could remember as a child when my father was taking me for the first time to Lui Boys Elementary School (boarding school) in 1964 through short path in mountains and thick forestry, and not through Wiroh-Lanyi-Lui road, we came across two lions lying on our path at an open and round plain rock area. When we came across the lions, we never ran and showed not any kind of panic but stood there silent looking at them. And while standing behind my father, the blood has frozen into my body and became terrified but without motion, thinking that was our end but after a while the two lions rose up, and while looking at us, they started moving their tails in affection as if they were greeting and telling us that do not panic, we will not harm you, then they moved aside to let us go. We passed slowly looking at them and then walked quickly as far as our legs could take us, thinking that the lions might follow and attack us from behind.

In conclusion, the over twenty-two year war which radical Islamic government in Khartoum used chemical weapons (acquired from Iraq) against SPLM/A in south, has got tremendous consequences on peoples’ life as well as animals/creatures. And the current unknown deadly diseases in south was a result of persistent gunpowder during the past two decades as well as chemical weapons. You can’t imagine how perplexed and dejected I was while touring rural areas at country-sides, people are devastated, heart broken and depressed because some has lost entire family members in the war at the hands of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), and I could feel the aguish of grass roots people and the changes in their life style as well as sentiment for reprisal. And what I have observed too was that people’s behavior has changed and there was no tolerance or compromise among the people, between brothers and sisters, and the mutual relationship between tribes has almost vanished but there is absolute culture of hostility prevalence which was not there prior to the war. In addition to that I wasn’t able to see those cute animals and creatures, which gave me the first impression that disappearance of those animals and creatures is disastrous which has caused a great disproportion in the bionetwork. That was simply because when we were living in Wari during the Anya-nya movement, and while I was watching over our farm from baboons and monkeys, I was confronted with one of the large baboons which entered our farm. When I tried to chase it away from the farm, he never ran away but instead sitting there arrogantly looking at me. At that time I was not old enough to carry bow and arrows, then mockingly I decided to lean down to pick stone and throw at him but he never bothered to run away. Then I became scared and had to run to seek the assistant of my elders. And when we came back with my father, we got lots of baboons joint and have overrun our farm. But when they saw me and my father with bow and arrows from afar, they started running after causing great damage to our farm. But now after four years of peace, people never keep an eye and constant watch over their crops by day or night, from being devoured by packs of baboons, wild animals and myriads of birds!

The author is a Sudan Tribune journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]