Celebrating Independence In The Midst Of Sorrow

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Article By, Yuanna R.J Chany

Introduction

(Pachodo.org) - It was fifteen years ago that Emmanuel Kembe sang, “ Salaam Ja, Mafi Zhol Tani Bi Khore.” He goes on not only to mention how the New Republic would cease the suffering of the Southerners, but also to warn its leaders not to play with the little child as he described. Today, what can we say about this child or gift? It has been played with. It’s being abused. Today, millions are displaced, starving, and trapped in a resurgent conflict, while those in power seem entirely indifferent. Children are dying. The elderly are forced to take refuge in their own country. This piece presents the shift from robust joy to abandonment, and how South Sudan needs all of us.

The Abandonment

Across the world, today, people celebrate independence. They wave flags, sing anthems, and praise their history. However, if we are honest, as South Sudanese, this season doesn’t bring easy gladness or joy. It brings us many questions. It breathes a deep, aching heaviness. Back when our land gained independence 15 years ago, there was joy. There was gladness because the vision was so promising. The independence celebration was meaningful and enjoyable to everybody.  But after, what do we see? Promises are broken. Many are asking themselves why they voted for separation in the first place. I believe this regret is not 

only experienced by the elderly who are alive, but also by the dead (who voted for this country for the enjoyment of their children, they wish), who are looking at us. Today, instead of creating work opportunities, war opportunities are jobs being planned or designed night by night. Millions of our brothers and sisters are seeking refuge and fleeing their homes in Western Bar-el-ghazal, Upper Nile, Equatoria, Unity State, Ruweng, and across the country. Families are crowded into makeshift shelters under plastic sheeting. Hunger is widespread. Diseases like cholera are spreading, and our hospitals are overwhelmed.

However, the hardest part, the part that breaks our hearts, is the silence and indifference of those who are supposed to protect this child (South Sudan). The very leaders who should be building schools, fixing roads, hospitals, and bringing peace are instead locked in political games, seemingly unbothered by the cries of the mothers and children running for their lives. As citizens, we cannot pretend everything is fine. We cannot vote for the empty happiness of national pride while our people are bleeding, while many of our leaders turned their phones off from civilians. While the country burns, leaders close their eyes and live in luxury. They can’t see the pain of a mother sitting in a displaced camp, when she doesn't know where tomorrow’s food will come from, when she feels completely forgotten by Juba or the world. 

Gordon Koang stated, in his song, “Our blood is bleeding in Sudan, Lord our God, Come stop bloodshed our land not comfort, Sudanese are finished, because of war between, our children tormented among others, oh Lord.” This song was sung before independence, but its echoes are still true in South Sudan, and not only in Sudan. Today, children are not free from being targeted. If war can’t force them, lack of education does it very beautifully for them. However, before independence, the hope for the southerners was that if they had a country that they would govern, they would stay at peace, where millions are not displaced, starving, and trapped in a resurgent conflict. They desire peace for everyone, where children have access to schools, safe water, hospitals, and protection. What should we do to address this?

We Need Each Other (One People)

Peace and meaningful national pride can be enjoyed if we could come together as one people. If our country’s leaders could come together in love and unity, then wouldn't the citizens follow in their footsteps? Sure, they will do the same. They will walk together despite their background. Since you can’t follow someone not easy to follow, we need to be followable. Our leaders need to demonstrate that they need each other. They should know that they need one another as well as their citizens. The distinctions being labeled now are not us, as South Sudanese. For us, we are one people, one nation. It’s only when we point people toward where we have been through ourselves that others would follow us. As citizens, we need to help our leaders too. We need to speak truth to them, but only in love. One of the factors in our country’s conflict is a lack of truthfulness. Our leaders don't have access to what they should know, but because the people representing us sometimes turn themselves into “yes men,” who also feed the high leadership with lies and empty praiseworthy ideas.

Conclusion

As a country, we exist because of the people, and as leaders, we are there because there are people. We need peace more than mere celebration. At the moment, South Sudanese need to be educated that they are one people, and one nation. They need to be pointed to each other in love. To our leaders, truth hurts, but it’s always worth it when accepted with humility. May we not be leaders who love only applause, but hate correction and rebuke. May God bless South Sudan! May God bless the millions who are displaced! May God bless those kids who are starving, those who have no access to school, those who are not protected, those who are being rape day and night,  and may God bless those who are trapped in a resurgent conflict.

Works Cited (photos)

1. https://www.msf.org/10-years-independence-south-sudan-record-consequences-violence
2. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=ccf981e20f367fe0&rlz=1CABFSS