South Sudan Reflections

South Sudan Reflections

This book features images from a design project in South Sudan, and excerpts from the journal I kept whilst in-country, shared in chronological order.

Day 1 - Upon arriving in Juba, we exited the plane on the tarmac, which was loaded with humanitarian aircraft. I took a photo of a massive WFP plane, only to be stopped by a soldier and told that doing so could get me arrested (he pantomimed being handcuffed to reinforce this).

Day 2 - Amey and I were taken different markets throughout Juba. We were told that under no circumstances were we to take pictures, and to make sure we didn’t stray too far from the vehicle. We followed these directions as best we could, but ultimately couldn’t resist pushing the boundaries of both.

Day 3 - The street was pretty deserted, so I decided to take a handful of pictures, after which a group of men called me over, none-too-pleased with what I was doing. They demanded to see the pictures and told me straight away to delete them and to not film anything in Juba.

Day 4 - The view outside the planes windows was stark to say the least. There’s just long stretches of parched, scorched Earth, with footpaths-cum-roads veining out every which way.

Day 5 - I wandered around alone outside the compound walls, which at first made me a little anxious. That was quickly assuaged though by the laughter of children upon seeing me, and the friendly greetings from adults.

Day 6 - We have another two weeks on the compound and I’m already feeling like I need some alone time. We don’t have a day off for another week, but I’m really looking forward to it; need some time for anything other than thinking about severely malnourished children.

Day 7 - God, I am so looking forward to using a western-style toilet again it’s not even funny. What I’m most looking forward to is not getting hit in the face with that ammonio-filled pungency that permeates the latrine here.

Day 8 - As soon as I started running through the village, kids, then adults, with smiles abounding, started running along with me, laughing. Though they’d only run for short distances, other groups were quick to join in.

Day 9 - After the session was done, two of the trainers took us on a walkabout, waxed nostagically about how life used to be before the conflict, and ruminated on, and lamented about, the conditions South Sudan faces, and its implications for future generations.

Day 10 - She said there’s no real benefit for the mothers to have their kids get healthy and out of the program, as that would cut off their supply of RUTFs; one child is being sacrificed for the good of the family. What a disturbing bit of logic, and a nightmare to find oneself in.

Day 11 - This means that we’re hearing the same things, yet having to bear witness to this terrible scene of malnourished, crying, distraught, and distressed children day after day for another week; it’s beyond disheartening, and the hoplessness it instills in you is hard to explain, and counter.

Day 12 - The Boogie Man was back, terrifying the children, only this time he brought with him a leather bull whip.

Corporal punishment in the villages is all too common, and that it often goes well beyond a simple spanking. As if these kids lives’ aren’t difficult enough.

Day 13 - I encountered a soldier that was trying to sell me a goat, and figured the less time I spent around anyone in a position of authority the better; I took this as a good sign that it was time to head back to the compound, and did so in haste.

Day 14 - As we approached the church, a group of kids rushed towards us, once again finding the camera’s charms irresistible, and longing for yet more pictures to be taken of them. Naturally, we obliged and the portraits were as cute as ever.

Day 15 - Part of it is the pace of work, but I think it’s also just not having any time off at all since our arrival, all of which is way secondary to the horrendous conditions of the lives of a lot of the children we see on a daily basis, but nerves were frayed big time, especially mine.

Day 16 - John spoke for a good 30 minutes about his background, the challenges facing his country, and his hopes for the future. You couldn’t help but wonder what this country, or the world really, would be like if all elected officials led with their heart like John did in this conversation.

Day 17 - No one has access to water in their homes here: there are pumps scattered throughout the area, and people use whatever other storage device they can get their hands on the bring home the water they need for the day, including drinking, cooking, and cleaning.

Day 18 - The “road” here is really just an excessively bumpy trail through the bush that causes the 10km drive to take nearly an hour. It’s a great ride though, as it takes you close to a lot of the homes of the local people, smiling and waving as though we are long-lost friends.

Day 19 - The day’s filming ended abruptly when a, according to the children, “bad man that takes too much wine” approached and kept gesturing for me to take his picture. He grabbed one of the girls, maybe a teenager, and posed laciviously with his arm draped around her shoulder.

Day 20 - We stood there watching in awe as these two guys methodically transformed a goat who had not 5 minutes before been alive and well, even feeding, so much so that its stomach was full of grass, into our evening’s feast. It was an incredible anatomy lesson, if a bit horrifying.

Day 21 - The long goodbye began this day. I’ve always hated goodbyes, and protracted ones are all but insufferable.

Unavaoidable at times, I find it’s best just to put a brave face on and push forward. After all, what else can one really do?

Days 22-26 - We returned to Juba, exhausted but invigorated by the seeming success of the tools. Being back at the hotel, surrounded by ample amounts of food, it’s almost enough to question whether or not the past few weeks were real. The contrasts we’ve seen here couldn’t be starker.

by:

Kevin Shane