After two years spent studying at the Sie Cheou-Kang Center at the University of Denver, I am returning to my home, South Sudan, a changed man. I am now better prepared to begin the work of building a great nation alongside those who have come before me and those who will follow in this great effort. I believe that we have no other option than the nation state which South Sudan has become in the last year. We must cope with that concept, and agree to live within its borders in peace. We must join the rest of the world and accept a centralized government. My experience tells me that this is the best course, and my study in the U.S. has equipped me to help in the move toward modernity.Because of the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation's support of worldwide diplomacy and security, I have been schooled in the practical and theoretical issues of geopolitics. But it was my long journey to Denver that prepared me to accept these ideas of peacemaking and nation-building and to help put them into action in South Sudan.My journey toward public service included time as a warrior, scholar and technocrat. I am from Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, where I was born and raised in an upper middle-class family. Because of the massive human flight common in that part of the world, I had to leave Sudan with only my older brother, searching for safety and opportunity in Egypt, Kenya and Uganda. In 1995, after five years of desperately seeking work and education, I found myself in the Daadab refugee camp on the Kenya-Somali border. There, I discovered the brutality of death, as all around me people were dying of starvation. Rather than dying like an animal waiting for food from the United Nations' meager handouts, I returned home to help in the struggle for freedom. I joined the Sudan People's Liberation Army, fighting for the rights of South Sudanese and other marginalized ethnic groups in Africa. I spent three years in the forests of South Sudan with my fellow countrymen and women. We were freedom-fighters, often called rebels by Khartoum.I left the forest for Uganda in 2000 and there obtained a higher diploma in software engineering and bachelor's degree in economics and political science by 2005. I returned to South Sudan to work for a private security firm contracted by the U.S. State Department to help transform South Sudan's army into a conventional military force. I came to Denver in December 2006 through the Council of International Programs-USA/Denver International Program, which had an office at DU. While in Colorado, I had firsthand experience with the legislative procedure at the state Capitol. Through CIPUSA/DIP, I had the opportunity to train in international human rights law and advocacy. I returned to my homeland as director for legislation at South Sudan's national parliament. Two years ago, I came back, and was one of 10 students at DU's Joseph Korbel School of International Studies in a program underwritten by the Sie Foundation. I graduated in June, radically transformed in my understanding of the world.While at DU, I learned the skills necessary to help my country. Indeed, every time I came to Denver, I went back home a different human being. This month, I returned to Sudan with my wife and two daughters (one born in Denver on July 7), convinced that South Sudan's political course is well set as a nation-state. I have faith that South Sudan, which gained independence only a year ago, can have a government that solves problems for its people. It is a government that needs to be reformed so that all people in all regions can benefit. It is true that not all government is all evil, but it carries the potential for evil unless it is well-managed. I am ready to humble myself as a technocrat/civil servant and put my skills under the service of my political superiors, whose sacrifices and contributions to South Sudan are far greater than mine. David Mayen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) is a senior civil servant of the government of South Sudan.
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After two years spent studying at the Sie Cheou-Kang Center at the University of Denver, I am returning to my home, South Sudan, a changed man. I am now better prepared to begin the work of building a great nation alongside those who have come before me and those who will follow in this great effort. I believe that we have no other option than the nation state which South Sudan has become in the last year. We must cope with that concept, and agree to live within its borders in peace. We must join the rest of the world and accept a centralized government. My experience tells me that this is the best course, and my study in the U.S. has equipped me to help in the move toward modernity.Because of the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation's support of worldwide diplomacy and security, I have been schooled in the practical and theoretical issues of geopolitics. But it was my long journey to Denver that prepared me to accept these ideas of peacemaking and nation-building and to help put them into action in South Sudan.My journey toward public service included time as a warrior, scholar and technocrat. I am from Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, where I was born and raised in an upper middle-class family. Because of the massive human flight common in that part of the world, I had to leave Sudan with only my older brother, searching for safety and opportunity in Egypt, Kenya and Uganda. In 1995, after five years of desperately seeking work and education, I found myself in the Daadab refugee camp on the Kenya-Somali border. There, I discovered the brutality of death, as all around me people were dying of starvation. Rather than dying like an animal waiting for food from the United Nations' meager handouts, I returned home to help in the struggle for freedom. I joined the Sudan People's Liberation Army, fighting for the rights of South Sudanese and other marginalized ethnic groups in Africa. I spent three years in the forests of South Sudan with my fellow countrymen and women. We were freedom-fighters, often called rebels by Khartoum.I left the forest for Uganda in 2000 and there obtained a higher diploma in software engineering and bachelor's degree in economics and political science by 2005. I returned to South Sudan to work for a private security firm contracted by the U.S. State Department to help transform South Sudan's army into a conventional military force. I came to Denver in December 2006 through the Council of International Programs-USA/Denver International Program, which had an office at DU. While in Colorado, I had firsthand experience with the legislative procedure at the state Capitol. Through CIPUSA/DIP, I had the opportunity to train in international human rights law and advocacy. I returned to my homeland as director for legislation at South Sudan's national parliament. Two years ago, I came back, and was one of 10 students at DU's Joseph Korbel School of International Studies in a program underwritten by the Sie Foundation. I graduated in June, radically transformed in my understanding of the world.While at DU, I learned the skills necessary to help my country. Indeed, every time I came to Denver, I went back home a different human being. This month, I returned to Sudan with my wife and two daughters (one born in Denver on July 7), convinced that South Sudan's political course is well set as a nation-state. I have faith that South Sudan, which gained independence only a year ago, can have a government that solves problems for its people. It is a government that needs to be reformed so that all people in all regions can benefit. It is true that not all government is all evil, but it carries the potential for evil unless it is well-managed. I am ready to humble myself as a technocrat/civil servant and put my skills under the service of my political superiors, whose sacrifices and contributions to South Sudan are far greater than mine. David Mayen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) is a senior civil servant of the government of South Sudan.
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