South Sudan: A childhood of terror and loss - Sioux Falls Argus Leader

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VIDEO CHATS: On Monday, photographer Emily Spartz and Managing Editor Patrick Lalley will take questions at 3 p.m.
WEBSITE: Explore the South Dakota-to-South Sudan website including maps, photos and video. Watch photographer Emily Spartz’s multimedia introduction of three South Sudanese women.
GATHERING: Argus Leader Media is hosting a community discussion on the series at Kresge auditorium on the Augustana College campus. Join us in person or watch live online to participate at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 16.

schedule

Stories in the South Dakota to Sudan series will be published through Oct. 21. The project is broken into seven main chapters that will run each Sunday and Wednesday. Also, reporter Steve Young’s journey will be detailed in 10 installments each Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday. Here is the schedule of stories:
Sunday
Chapter 1 – Giving back
Journey 1 – Traveling with David Jal
Today
Chapter 2 – A child’s story
Journey 2 – Poverty of Addis Ababa
Thursday
Journey 3 – The patriarch returns
Sunday
Chapter 3 – A world of need
Journey 4 – New reality
Wednesday, Oct. 10
Chapter 4 – Social struggle
Journey 5 – The waiting wall
Thursday, Oct. 11
Journey 6 – Back home in Dunyal
Sunday, Oct. 14
Chapter 5 – A cultural change
Journey 7 – The Khor Wakow River
Wednesday, Oct. 17
Chapter 6 – The cost of doing good
Journey 8 – The power of water
Thursday, Oct. 18
Journey 9 – Threat of harm
• Sunday, Oct. 21
Chapter 7 – Measuring success
Journey 10 – What’s left unsaid

About this report

The roots of this project started as the South Sudanese people moved toward a vote for independence early last year. Reporter Steve Young interviewed several Sudanese now living in Sioux Falls who talked about the desire to return to their homeland to build schools and clinics or start businesses to help the people.
That led to a conversation with David Jal, a Minnehaha County probation officer and former Lost Boy, who was working on just such a goal. With the successful vote to split Sudan into two countries, Young floated the idea to editors at the Argus Leader of traveling with Jal to tell the story of the communal effort under way, between South Dakotans and Sudanese refugees, to rebuild the country.
Ongoing clashes between the north and south Sudanese armies, intermittent militia violence and a general uneasiness with the situation threatened to derail the project throughout last year. Young continued though, interviewing Sudanese living in the United States, talking with officials with churches and relief agencies involved in the country and checking in with the U.S. State Department to assess the situation.
He also endured a series of inoculations to prepare for travel in Ethiopia and Sudan, where basic services often are nonexistent and afflictions such as malaria and dysentery easily can end a journey.
Young is a Huron native and 1979 graduate of South Dakota State University. He started reporting for the Argus Leader in 1981. You can reach him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 605-331-2306.

Timeline to independence

After more than 20 years of civil war in which 2.5 million Sudanese were killed, most in southern Sudan, peace was reached in 2005, and last year South Sudan officially became the world's newest country. Among the key dates in that process:
1956
Sudan becomes the largest country in terms of land in Africa as it steps out from under the influence of England and Egypt and gains its independence Jan. 1.
1955-1972
The Arab-led Sudanese government in the capital of Khartoum reneges on promises to southerners, leading to a mutiny by southern army officers and triggering a 17-year civil war.
1983
After 11 years of peace, a second civil war begins.
January 2005
The Sudan government and southern leaders sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, providing for a degree of power-sharing between north and south, limited autonomy for the south for six years, then a referendum on independence.
Jan. 9-15, 2011
Voting takes place on the South Sudan independence referendum. Ballots are cast in Sudan, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Australia, England and the United States. In South Sudan, 99 percent vote to secede.
July 9, 2011
South Sudan declares independence, becoming the 54th state in Africa.

Total population
8.26 million
Total area
644,329 square kilometers
Average life expectancy
59.4 years
51 percent
of the population is below age 18
72 percent
of the population is below age 30
83 percent
of the population is rural
27 percent
of the population is literate
51 percent
of the population lives below
the poverty line
55 percent
of population has access to
improved sources of drinking water

Source: South Sudan Bureau of National Statistics

If you want to help

Numerous efforts are originating out of southeast South Dakota to help with education and building projects in South Sudan. Here’s how to help:
Khor Wakow School Project: Sioux Falls probation officer David Jal is working with a 501(c)3 nonprofit board to build a school and improve lives in the Khor Wakow River region where he was born and grew up in eastern South Sudan. Donations can be made to the Khor Wakow School Project and mailed to Khor Wakow School Project, PO Box 295, Sioux Falls, SD, 57101-0295.
As part of fundraising efforts, the group has produced a children’s book called “David’s Story – Lost Boy of Sudan.” The group also has created a a traveling wall that organizations can host, allowing people to buy bricks of $25, $50 and $100 to build the wall. The donor’s name is placed on the brick, and when the actual school is built, all donor names will be engraved on a plaque in the school. For additional information on the book or traveling wall, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or go to www.khorwakowschool project.org
Rebuilding South Sudan Through Education: Former Lost Boy Moses Joknhial II of Sioux Falls is working with the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota to dig wells and to build a school, medical clinic and women’s center in his native community of Panyang, South Sudan. Tax-deductible donations can be made by check payable to the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota, designated for South Sudan Educaiton. Mail them to 500 S. Main Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104. For more information on the project, go to http:// southsudan education.com
Mary’s Project – Mission HOPE South Sudan: The project, initiated by former Lost Boy Atem Juowei in collaboration with the Catholic publishing venture Mary’s Project in Sioux Falls, is building a library education center in Juowei’s home village of Paliau in the Ajuong Community of South Sudan. Donations by check should be made payable to Mary’s Project and designated for Mission HOPE South Sudan – Framers of Freedom. They can be mailed to Mary’s Project – Mission HOPE South Sudan, PO Box 708, Sioux Falls, SD 57101-0708. The effort also is seeking new and used books, school supplies, backpacks, laptop and desktop computers, Kindles and educational DVDs. Those items can be dropped off at the mission office: 1412 W. 12th St., Sioux Falls, SD. To call ahead or for further information, call 605-251-2110. For online information, go to http:// www.marysproject.com
South Sudan Project: Hillcrest Church in Sioux Falls is working on several projects in the village of Kalalayi in Western Equatoria State in South Sudan. It wants to send two influential farmers from the village to a training school in Kenya. It also wants to send a villager for training as a doctor, and another for training as a pastor. Donations by check should be made payable to Hillcrest Church, with South Sudan Project written in the memo line, and mailed to 4301 E. 26th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57103.
Nasir Church Building Fund: Prairie Hills Covenant Church is working with Southern Sudanese church members to build a concrete church in Nasir, South Sudan. The group is looking for assistance in purchasing building materials in South Sudan. Donations by check should be made to Prairie Hills Covenant Church, designated for Nasir Church building. Checks or cash can be sent to Prairie Hills Covenant Church, 2500 Powder House Road, Sioux Falls, SD 57110.

CHAPTER TWO
A CHILD’S STORY