Sarah Elliott

When Home is New

After decades of civil war, on the backs of motorcycles and overburdened Land Cruisers, Sudan’s displaced children are coming home. On July 9th, South Sudan became the world’s newest country. The next generation returns to build the new state while digging deep into the past for memories of a country they left as children. 

  • Arek Majak came back in 2010 and was hired by the World Bank technical assistance to the referendum process. “People might get into South Sudan for 5 minutes, but it’s part of me.” Arek has no memories of Sudan, only a photograph of herself in the country where she was born.
  • Awol D’Awol, 26, (Anyieth’s younger brother) followed her to Sudan after graduating from Liverpool University in England with a degree in zoology. In Juba, Awol works on a U.N. funded project helping former soldiers find their way back to a civilian existence, also known as DDR, disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation. “It helped that Anyieth was settled here, because you don’t want to be the only one. It made the transition easier, but I was very adamant that I was going to come back.” Awol identifies the future of Sudan in the young children he see's on the streets and his memory of Sudan is sand, and glass coke bottles.
  • Anyieth D’Awol, 32, the daughter of a diplomat, spent her childhood traveling the world. She moved to Juba in 2005 with a background in human rights, and she was at first enthusiastic about her U.N. job, which would enable her to live, for the first time, in the place she considered home. But she was quickly disillusioned by the work. “We were doing so-called capacity building, but we kept seeing the same people,” she says. “I thought, why don’t we do something practical, teach people to take care of themselves?” Her vexation and belief that South Sudan’s unique cultural history should be preserved to help forge a cohesive national identity inspired her to launch a nonprofit. In 2009, she founded the Roots Project in Juba, aimed to empower communities through the preservation and production of traditional arts and crafts and to restore stability and a sense of community following decades of destruction.  The Centre employs over 50 women from various tribes including women associated with armed forces many of whom shoulder the responsibility of supporting their families. In addition to providing a safe working environment, the Project seeks to build confidence and advance the skills of its workers through consistent skills development, health education, numeracy and literacy classes. Anyieth’s memory of Sudan is the old and decaying houses she used to see on the streets as a young girl.
  • Mading Ngor, 28, left his rural home in Bor on August 28th, 1991 during the massacre, he was 8 years old. Ngor lived in Kenya with his family until the age of 18, then moved to Alberta, Canada, where he studied journalism at Grant MacEwan University. He is looking to balance both his Sudanese and Canadian heritage. {quote}I always wanted to come back and I always knew that I had to.  After losing my relatives in the war I felt a sort of moral obligation to contribute to the country. I came also see whether there was a place for me in this new republic. I came as a journalist because independence is the story of the century and I wanted to be part of that,{quote} he said. {quote}And to assess whether it's really home or not.{quote} Mading returned April 1st  of this year and traveled to his hometown of Bor for the first time in 20 years. “Everything was different, the rivers I remember as a child were dry. Nothing resembled what I left behind.” Mading left bore during the massacre, “We trekked through the bush on foot; we saw corpses lining the streets. If I was stung by a bee on my head, I wanted to cry out but I didn’t, because I was with my mom and siblings. If the enemy would hear any noise, they would fire in that direction. I cried on the inside. My friend who was also 8 was killed because a dog barked.” “We have a country but if we’re going to put a blind eye on justice what is our future for the new nation? Some people think justice will be done in the future, the future is now, now or never.” “The roosters crowing in the morning is distinctively Africa for me, it’s authentic and genuine, you would not hear that in Canada.” “We have to show we can do our part, even how little it is, like the quote by JFK, ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. Luxury and comfort is in the west, but it’s more than that, I know how many relatives sacrificed for this country. You can be anything in South Sudan, a doctor, a journalist, a lawyer, and be relevant.” “My memory of Sudan is long horn cows, when we ran during the massacre we were in a cattle camp, we had to desert them.”
  • Nyagoa Nyuon, 30, was just 5 years old when her family left in 1986.  Her father sent her family into exile to protect them from a raging civil war, a conflict that over time killed roughly 2 million people. William Nyuon Bany, one of the founders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, knew that because of his profile, his family was particularly at risk, and so he dispatched eight of his nine wives abroad, along with dozens of his children. Her mother was one of the first women to join the militia that sought the independence of South Sudan. Even as they fled Sudan, she believed she would one day return. When her father was killed 10 years later in circumstances that remain unclear, the plan for a joyful reunion with his family died. But for Nyagoa Nyuon, her father’s legacy was one of the main motivations for returning to South Sudan. “I told my mom I would come back…for the celebration” of the peace agreement that ended the civil war, says Nyuon. “My mom said, ‘You should be here. This is what your father started.’ “My dad always told us, ‘You’re going there for security. Get what you can, educate yourself, come back, and find your place. America is not your home; this is your home.” “If I stay in the U.S., my father’s name dies. And I feel like I’m here to make a difference—for my younger brothers, for the people who are coming after me.” Nyagoa’s memory of Sudan is “military men with heavy guns and tanks. I could never get those images out of my head.{quote}
  • Sakis Edward Laku, 35, left Juba at age 10 during the war and moved to Lobonk with his family. In Lobonk the SPLA would appear, his family would help them carry ammunition, feed them and give them water. When the gov’t national congress bombed the area, his family fled. In 1994 he moved to Uganda, the UN began helping him and his family with food, but they had to find their own housing. He lived in Jumani District for more than 11 years. He was in and out of primary school, his parents had difficulty paying school fees for him. In 2005, after the Peace Agreement was signed, he left his parents in Uganda and moved back to South Sudan by himself. “Staying in another country is not favorable, I have that love for my people, I wanted to see what happened during the war, and I wanted to be with my people. We only left because of the war, but had no intention of staying there. By a miracle we have Independence, it’s a new nation to develop.” Sakis has been working at Al Sahab hospital for the past 5 years as a statistic clerk. Before leaving Sudan as a child, Sakis remembers fishing with his childhood friends.
  • Meer Nyuon, 24 was born in Gambella, on the Ethiopian, Sudaneese boarder in 1987, her family lived there for five years, they had moved outside of Juba because of the war.  Her family then moved to Nairobi, Kenya. After her father died in 1996 she moved to the Kakuma Refugee camp with her mother and four siblings. “In Kakuma, things were hard, if you lost your refugee card, you couldn’t eat and would have to get a new one. We barely had a meal a day, there was no electricity, and no water. If you wanted water, youd have to ask at the UN residence, or walk to Lake Tukana. In 1997 she moved back to Nairobi with her family, there she repeated primary school courses, but her mom struggled to pay her school fees. She completed primary school, high school and University in Nairobi, majoring in marketing and management. She recently graduated in September of last year and immediately moved back to Juba. “My first time back, I had a lot of expectations, I was expecting more, but feeling like I belonged, and being home was enough.” Meer’s siblings were scattered across the world, and only met 3 of her siblings for the first time in their life in 2005. “I didn’t know what to do when I met my brother, hug him, or cry, it felt good, but I was meeting a complete stranger, but he was my brother. It was a good experience to see them, still not enough, sometimes I feel like I don’t know them much. We’re all trying to make up for the time we never had together. Meer is currently employed by the EDC – Educational Development Center, monitoring schools. “I felt like I wanted to come home and give back something to my country, by working for someone like I am now, I am helping to improve education, reducing the literacy level in South Sudan.” “I think people should come back home and help build this nation, their skills are needed. Meer’s memory of Sudan before she left is Kisra, a pancake or thin bread prepared from fermented sorghum. “We would feed so many people with Kisra, our family, soldiers and my fathers body guards who were staying at our compound.”
  • Lual D'Awol, 26, L.U.A.L – Lyrically Untouchable African Legend, aka King of Africa, was born in New York City to diplomat parents who were abroad for much of the war.  He returned to Sudan in 2009 for his older sisters wedding and decided to stay, “I started following what was going on in the country, and wanted to be apart of it.” Lual cultivated a passion for rap and basketball in 1999 while living in Baltimore. {quote}I chose to come early so I could be involved in the whole referendum process and to see the birth of our nation, I'm going to stay here. I'm not going to go back (to the U.S.) because I don't really have anything else that I need to do over there.{quote} Now back in Juba, he’s doing work as an auditor for a project funded by the U.S. government called Deloitte. A rapper in his spare time, his latest song is titled {quote}Scattered Overseas,” “I’m telling people to come home, I want my message to be heard clearly, hopefully it will prompt South Sudanese to come back, so we can get to work. People can’t think the gov’t is going to do it. Being here, it makes me feel like I can make a difference, be it through my music or anything else, it's the beginning of everything.”
  • Agyedho Adwok Nyaba, 26, was born in 1985 in Juba and was only 6 months old when she left South Sudan. She lived in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Spain before moving back to South Sudan last October. “I knew South Sudan was home, but there was still a huge disconnect. Coming home was bittersweet, both my grandmothers had died, and I didn’t know any of my relatives. I was happy, but sad. I feel comfortable here; living as a refugee in a different country is hard, being here just feels right. Agyedho studied journalism as her BA and peace, conflict and development as her Masters degree, feeling like she understood the struggle of fighting for freedom and Independence. “All influences have made me what I am today, pain, sadness, happiness made me, and Independence is the highlight.” Today Agyedho works as a policy and PR officer for the Joint Donor Team and is thrilled to be able to apply theory to practice. “I always had that part of me that was connected, and motivated to come back. Who will build South Sudan, take the initiative? It has to be us, we’re the ones to build the south, I came back to contribute.” Agyedho’s father Peter Nyaba was acting Minister of High Education until the 9th of July. Agyedho has no memories of South Sudan because she was only a baby when she left, recently her mother pointed out to her the house where she was born in Juba town.
  • Akoch Manhim and Aerl Makemy, 29 and 28, met in Australia, where they were both living as refugees. Akoch was born in Tonj, and moved away from his rural home when he was 12 because the army was looking for young boys to join to fight.  He left his family and travelled to Mayom Kbum camp with neighbors, Akoch was one of the original “Lost Boys” a phrase coined to describe children living on their own during the war. He then moved to a refugee camp in Kenya in 1998 called Kukuma. “It was terrible, there were terrible insecurities, and locals shot refugees at night. There was no health system and always a lack of water. We had to que every morning for water.” “When you are born you become more confident for the decisions you have to make in life.” A church in Australia raised money for my flight to Australia, so I went. “It was weird to be in such a developed place, while people at home suffered. I was proud to be there, to have made it there thought. Some priveledged people don’t look back, but after being educated abroad I think I have some knowledge I can share with my people. Akoch spent the majority of his life living away from his family. He saw them once in 1998, 2003, 2007 and once in 2010. Akoch’s wife, Aerl was born in Wau, she wasn’t sought to pick up a gun because she was a girl. Her father joined the movement in 1986, “When our town was attacked, he would flee with us, then return to fight.” Aerl moved around with her mother to Ethiopia, Kenya, and ended up in Australia in 2002, her mother stayed in South Sudan. Akoch and Aerl met in Sydney, Australia, they quickly bonded over issues effecting the people of Sudan, and dreamed one day of returning to their home country together. They returned to South Sudan and began planning their wedding, their hope was to get married July, 9th, the day of independence, but it wasn’t possible do to possible insecurities. Akoch and Aerl were married in Juba on June 25th, with both of their families present. Akoch intends to stay in Juba and look for work, while Aerl will return to Australia to continue her university education. “I am studying medical science, when I finish I will come back as well. Hopefully I’ll graduate next year.
  • Stella Kenyi, 30, was 8 years old when her mother and four brothers, one a newborn, left Yei, a town surrounded by teak plantations close to the borders with Uganda and Congo. It was the first time Kenyi had left her hometown, and while fleeing was unsettling, it was also an adventure that offered novel sights, sounds, and tastes. “It was the first time I had chocolate.” Four years later, her family was given asylum in the United States, and the country soon felt like home. Kenyi’s oldest brother enlisted in the U.S. Marines and served in Iraq; her middle brother is a policeman in Virginia; and her youngest brother played basketball for Harvard University. Kenyi herself got a master’s degree in development from Cornell University. Kenyi, who came to Juba before January’s secession vote, says she was moved when the polls opened, thinking of her great-grandmother, who had refused to leave the family home when Yei came under siege. The family believes the grandmother is no longer alive—they haven’t heard from her and have been unable to find her. “I was just thinking about the people who had fled and died for the right to become a separate country. Their freedoms were curtailed for such a long time. And I was thinking about the fact that now we have a chance to help shape and mold this country.” As a manager for a major USAID contractor in South Sudan, Kenyi came to the volatile region to work with county commissioners, village elders, and other local officials even before the vote. “I’d been doing development work for a while. But this was exciting because we were trying to focus on the north-south border. It felt like a clean slate, like ‘Where do we want to begin?” Kenyi's memory as a child is of the Nile River.
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