DanChurchAid
Sudan
You don’t need to go to war to be heard
Imagine you are returning to your village in southern Sudan after more than twenty years in a miserable refugee camp in the capital, Khartoum. You are looking forward to cultivating the fields and beginning a new life. Peace has arrived at last.
But the sight of your village is a different image to the one you had in your head.
Nearly everything has been destroyed by the war. The person who killed your brother and raped your sister is now living in your house. You look around desperately for help but your old neighbours are turning their backs on you.
| DanChurchAid in Sudan |
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| Journalist Malene Haakansson is in Sudan from May 10 until June 30. Cell: +45 29 699 125 Email: mah@dca.dk |
What do you do?
It is situations like this one that brings back the horrors from Sudan’s long civil war.
The peace agreement between the north and the south has created thousands of refugees and the displaced people leave their camps to return to southern Sudan.
However, a signed peace agreement doesn’t solve all problems.
“When refugees return to their villages, suspicions exist between those who chose to leave and those who chose to stay. The man over there used to work for the security police and so on. People have been terrorised to such a degree that the traumatic consequences of the war have increased distrust between people”, says Emmanuel LoWilla, Director of RECONCILE (Resource Centre for Civil Leadership), part of New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC).
The many returning refugees often end up on the steps of the church, asking for help.
The church helps to find out where they are from and contacts the local chief. If there are problems returning home, the church tries to mediate between the parties.
The church also tries to prepare both the returning and those who stayed behind for the problems that may await them.
“The churches are here to do the work. The question is whether they have the tools to give advice and to understand all the pain that people have been through”, says Lowilla.
Information is important
RECONCILE was founded in 2003 by the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC) and it played a decisive role in the peace process. Following the peace agreement, which was made in the beginning of this year, RECONCILE continued to work towards reconciliation across religious faiths.
“We continue to inform people about what is happening. We tell them that they can trust each other”, says Lowilla.
The information campaigns are targeted at religious leaders, village leaders, young men and women. Furthermore, workshops are arranged where the participants are given tools to work towards reconciliation in their church, school or village.
“For many people, the information from the church is all they have and this helps to curb frustrations.“
During the peace negotiations between the rebellious groups in southern Sudan and the government in the north, the NSCC gave out information about the agreements that were signed. After the peace agreement it has become even more important that people are informed about the content of the agreement so that peace can really happen”, says Lowilla.
A church taking a standpoint
During the civil war, religion was used to mobilise soldiers both in the Christian south and in the Muslim north – which is also why religious leaders are important in the struggle for peace and reconciliation.
The NSCC has been a mediator between tribes at war and made its voice heard outside Sudan’s borders through international church networks – and has thus been pressing for the peace process in international forums.
“The church has learned that if it will help create peace, it is necessary to involve different people on different levels. At a grassroots level we could use the local churches in Sudan but at an international level we needed support by the European and American churches to do the advocacy work”, says Lowilla.
The Christian church continues to pressurise the government and the former rebels. However, this time it is about carrying the peace agreement in to effect. The authorities in southern Sudan are being formed and conflict still exists in some areas.
“We try to lead people behind the scenes. How can we help people recognise their rights and how can they defend their rights? How can we make sure they are listened to? To be heard is not always about going to war – there are other ways”, says Lowilla about the way the church works.
He thinks the church has kept its integrity and dignity by speaking the truth loudly and by coming up with constructive suggestions on how to improve the situation.
DanChurchAid’s Whitsun collection 2006 is for RECONCILE’s work, including the workshops between Muslim and Christian leaders.
The article is written by journalist Malene Haakansson ( mah@dca.dk ) published on www.noedhjaelp.dk , 16 May 2006. Translated by Heidi Rasmussen.
