The South Sudanese - A People in Search of Hope
WHI drills for rural communities, usually with 10-50 households. Most villagers are originally from this area, but were forced to leave during the long years of civl war and have only recently returned to their ancestral lands.
Brief History
In 1943, Britain and Egypt uniformly decided to grant Sudan independence as a nation state. By 1956, the Muslim north and Christian south were at odds with each other as to who had the right to legitimately govern all regions that comprise Sudan. After unsuccessful attempts at creating a northern government that would govern the southern territories, the informal coalition in north Sudan began a prolonged battle against insurgent guerilla militants representing southern secession and autonomy. Thus began what is now called Anyanya I, or the First Sudanese Civil War in 1956. This conflict lasted until 1972. Then, eleven years of uneasy peace came. Again in 1983, Anyanya II, or the Second Sudanese Civil War erupted and both north and south Sudan re-engaged in harsh, consistent armed conflict until the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005.
South Sudan Today
The outcome of this religious and ethnically fueled conflict was 2.5 million dead – military and civilian. In conjunction with the high death toll from the two wars, South Sudan was saw almost no infrastructure or economic development since the outbreak of violence in 1956. Massive depravation in health, education, services, and societal development left the country with no strong leaders, rather partially unified coalitions led by warlords and tribal factions, yet bound by a common cause – resistance to Arab governance from the North. Today, the semi-autonomous country has approximately 8 million people, many of whom are returning refugees from Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya who lack access to fundamental human necessities, primarily clean water. Spanning across 227,000 square miles, twenty-two separate ethnic group, and 200 different languages – these are the people of South Sudan.