01 July 2020

THE FOLLY OF FIGHTING 

IN SOUTH SUDAN

In March, 2020 Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, called for a cessation of all fighting globally.  He stated, “The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war.  It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.”1

South Sudan has been identified as the most dangerous country to reside in during the Covid 19 pandemic by The Deep Knowledge Group in Hong Kong. This 250-page document, entitled Covid-19 Safety Assessment Regional Breakdown,2 is based on 130 qualitative and quantitative parameters with 11,400 data points. They conclude that South Sudan is unable to react quickly to any crisis, has no high levels of preparation for emergencies or quarantine efficiency and lacks resiliency in the economy to withstand the impact of the epidemic. 3

Sr. Esperance Bamiriyo, a Comboni Missionary Sister in Wau, South Sudan could support this assessment.  She reports that in April, approximately 7000 civilians occupied the grounds near the Catholic Cathedral.  They had taken refuge because they feared militias and paramilitary forces.  However, the fear that Covid 19 would rapidly spread in the congested living quarters led people to reluctantly return to their homes.  When they arrived home, they lacked food and shelter with the rainy season quickly approaching.  As they struggled to collect firewood and begin farming many were attacked and killed. 1

State authorities continue to fail to protect civilians and end conflicts.  The UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, condemned violence in Jongelei State which occurred on 16 May 2020.  From January to March 2020 intercommunal fighting was the main source of violence against civilians and caused at least 65 cases of sexual assault, 452 injuries, 592 abductions and 658 deaths. These conflicts stem from a long history of fighting over natural resources which include water and grazing for cattle.  More recently, they involve military tactics and weapons. 4 

The South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) strongly condemned this violence in a statement issued on 17 June 2020.  “We call for immediate cessation of hostilities and formation of State and Local governments.  We also appeal in the name of God to all our political leaders to value people over and above position, power and party interests.”

To that end, the formation of governments in the 10 states was announced the same day.  President Kiir will nominate governors for the six states of Lakes, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Eastern and Central Equatoria, Warrap and Unity States. Vice President Machar who leads the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement In Opposition will nominate for Western Equatoria, Western Bahr El Ghazal and Unity states.  The South Sudan Opposition Allliance will nominate for Jongelei State. 5

However, leaders are unlikely to respond to the plea of the SSCC to value people over other interests.  A report entitled Making a Killing 6 was published in May 2020 by The Sentry as part of its series entitled The Taking of South Sudan 7.  Independence was granted from Sudan on 9^th July 2011 and this document details how government leaders have co-opted government institutions, looted resources and ignited civil war in 2013.  That conflict continued until February 2020 when President Kiir and Vice President Machar agreed to form a unity government.  The corruption outlined is repeatedly linked to international corporations, foreign banks and governments.  The constraints of such a large and tightly woven web of criminal activity will require more than a change of heart on the part of these leaders.

Regarding health care, a policy brief produced by the Sudd Institute analyzes mortality in the pandemic and concludes that South Sudan is “one of the least hit countries in the region”.  It claims the country performs 7^th among 11 regional countries and ranks 6^th out of 11 for lowest number of deaths per 100,000 population.  Yet, it admits that testing is inadequate and “is likely to have resulted in this rosy picture”.8 With inadequate testing such a ‘picture’ is inaccurate.  For South Sudan to effectively confront this pandemic it must institute effective testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine measures as recommended by the World Health Organization.  Treatment of Covid 19 has caused so much pressure on the government that David Shearer, the UN Special Representative on South Sudan, has briefed the UN Security Council that the entire health care system could easily collapse and lead to even more deaths. 9

South Sudan needs a fully functioning government and peace.  Otherwise, the folly of fighting will unleash the fury of the virus.

Faith in Action: On 9^th July 2020 South Sudan will celebrate nine years of independence from Sudan.  Join in prayer for peace and protection during this time of pandemic: https://www.solidarityfriends.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/independencedayprayer2020_eng.pdf

INDEPENDENCE USA
04 JULY

LET US ALL PRAY AND WORK FOR PEACE

1.      https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/coronavirus/coronavirus/news/covid-19-worsens-danger-hardships-people-face-conflict-zones

2.      https://www.dkv.global/covid-19/all-regions

3.      https://eyeradio.org/s-sudan-ranked-dangerous-in-the-world-for-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR0iCXqWqf3hwnm8W_pHBsPAdXnKnAFx888grGAnIV4vrW0ERMnJhF8E4c8
4.   https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1064792

5.      https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/south-sudan-s-parties-agree-on-state-allocations

6.     file:///C:/Users/susan/Documents/MOGC/NewsNotes%20articles/2020%20JULY/MakingAKilling-summary.pdf

7.      https://thesentry.org/reports/taking-south-sudan/

8.   https://www.suddinstitute.org/assets/Publications/5ef1d02870a0b_TheCOVIDMortalityInSouthSudan_Full.pdf

9.      https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/1066952

01 June 2020

Staff MOGC
Washington DC 02 June 2020

FEAST OF THE UGANDAN MARTYRS

03 JUNE 2020

     Today we remember 22 young Ugandan men who gave their lives in 1886 rather than submit to the immoral demands of the Kabaka who was the Baganda King.  Living in Illinois, I can only report on peaceful active resistance by the staff of Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns (MOGC) in Washington D.C.  Wishing I could be with them, I share these stories. MOGC staff participated in a faith-based solidarity vigil held Tueday evening in a multi-cultural neighborhood two miles from the White House.

St. John Paul II Shrine

As quoted in HuffPost... "Susan Gunn, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, a Catholic ministry, helped to organize a prayer vigil outside the (St. John Paul II National) shrine. After watching videos of what had happened at St. John’s Church the night before, Gunn said the vigil was planned to be “far enough away that we felt safe from overly aggressive police tactics to move a crowd and yet close enough to see the presidential motorcade.” “We wanted to pray for healing for those who are grieving and for our fractured communities, and we wanted to share our message of solidarity and love in a public way,” Gunn said of the vigil.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/catholic-bishop-trump-shrine_n_5ed6746bc5b68a110026b4fb

Let's draw on the strength and courage of those martyrs we remember today to live the Gospel more faithfully and fan destructive flames into peaceful tongues of flame of the Holy Spirit.

Minneapolis fires

FLAMES
01 JUNE 2020

     Here in the USA it seems like everything is going wrong.  Our cities are burning and people are dying from violence rather than the Covid 19 virus that has caused so much fear this past month.  Yesterday, the Governor of Illinois relaxed restrictions on opening houses of worship after Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh ordered Illinois to respond to three lawsuits brought by churches.  The Governor's plan for 5 phases to reopen the state has been amended to only suggest guidelines for opening houses of worship.  These will not be mandatory.

     Meanwhile, our County of Champaign is battling 27 outbreaks and we know that with re-openings of churches and other public spaces the virus will spread and put people like my 87 year old mother and myself more at risk.  We will continue to follow evidence based guidelines which is what I used to develop the public health principles below.  Up until now, I relied on the CDC as a site for credible guidance.  However, the guidelines that the CDC gave for houses of worship last week have been changed by the White House.  That site has been censored and now carries less accurate information.  Even the National Institute of Health is under the review of the White House and can also be censored.  I am searching for an evidenced based source of information to guide our future progress during the pandemic.

COVID 19 PANDEMIC

THE BASICS OF PUBLIC HEALTH

JUNE 1, 2020

This summary of primary principles is to help each of us prepare to serve the common good as this pandemic unfolds.  New information will become available with time and the one website to follow is https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

1.       YOU MAY BE AN ASYMPTOMATIC CARRIER.  PROTECT OTHERS FROM TRANSMISSION

·         Masks are far more effective than previously realized.  Wear one whenever you are inside with people you don’t live with.  It shows that you don’t want to unknowingly infect others.  https://masks4all.co/

·         Those of us who must be in contact with people whom we don’t live with are more likely to be silent spreaders.  That includes all health care workers, first responders such as police, ambulance or other vehicle drivers, and service personnel like grocery store clerks, vendors, receptionists and faith leaders.

2.       KNOW THE SYMPTOMS OF COVID 19 - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html

·         Cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, Fever

·         Chills, muscle pain, new loss of sense of taste or smell, sore throat

·         In addition to the OFFICAL symptoms above there are other symptoms like fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea

3.       CALL 911 or YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER IF YOU HAVE SERIOUS SYMPTOMS LIKE

·         Trouble breathing

·         Persistent pain or chest pressure

·         Confusion

·         Bluish lips

·         Inability to awaken or stay awake

4.       IF YOU ARE IN A COMMUNITY THAT IS NOT DOING PHYSICAL DISTANCING AND YOU HAVE A COMORBID OR VULNERABLE CONDITION AVOID THE FOLLOWING OR TAKE SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS - https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them

·         HOME – If you live with a person who is vulnerable and you frequent the places listed below you can bring the infection to the home where transmission is the highest.

·         Places of worship – a confined space and singing encourages transmission

·         Public transport

·         Funerals, Weddings, parties of any kind

·         Restaurants

·         Work places – especially meat packing plants, call centers

·         Indoor sports – especially in cool environments

·         https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.04.20053058v1 - There is only 1 documented outbreak in an outside environment involving 2 persons

5.       IDENTIFICATION – testing is lacking in most places in the world

·         If your health care provider gives you a clinical diagnosis OR

·         If you can get a test and it is positive - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/testing/index.html

·         you must isolate yourself at home. ISOLATION separates people who are infected from people who are not known to be infected - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html

·         If you do not have a health care provider, there is a self-checker for both inside and outside the USA to help you make the diagnosis at this site https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html

6.       CONTACT TRACING – the isolated person must identify all persons contacted 48 hours before the onset of symptoms or the positive test to include the following

·         People with whom they spent more than 15 minutes (Singapore) or 30 minutes (USA)

·         At a distance of less than 6 feet = 2 metres

·         All contacts must be tested or interviewed for symptoms

·         If the contact tests positive or is given a clinical diagnosis the contact must be ISOLATED.  The purpose of isolation is to prevent transmission from an infected person to those who are not yet known to be infected.

·         If the contact is not diagnosed, they must be QUARANTINED.  The purpose of quarantine is to keep someone who has been EXPOSED away from others before they show signs of illness to stop transmission of the virus https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine-isolation.html

7.       IDENTIFICATION, ISOLATION, CONTACT TRACING AND QUARANTINE

·         These are the pillars of proceeding through a pandemic while there is no effective treatment or a vaccine.

·         The Infection Rate (IR) or the Reproductive Rate (Ro) is an indication of the transmissibility of a virus.  It tells you how many people an infected person can infect on average.  If it is > 1 the infection is increasing.  An IR of 1.1 indicates an outbreak.  The IR of Covid is estimated to be 3.28 and that is why it is called a super spreader. https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/27/2/taaa021/5735319

·         Isolation and contact tracing work well at the beginning or end of an outbreak.  It requires many people or clever use of technology to perform.  When an outbreak gets out of control the health care system is overwhelmed.

·         Mitigation is then used to slow down spread, protect the most vulnerable people from becoming infected and avoid overwhelming the health care system.  This includes Stay At Home (SAH), limited movement and limited activities.

8.       ENDPOINT OF THE PANDEMIC

·         When herd or community immunity is reached.  At this point at least 80% of the population is immune to the virus, thereby protecting the remaining 20% that are still vulnerable.  This can be achieved by allowing the community to become infected and develop natural immunity (Sweden model) but many people will become so sick that they die in the process.

·         An effective vaccine that penetrates the population by providing 83-94% immunity will protect the remaining 6-17% of the population who are still vulnerable.  The earliest a vaccine will be available for production is most likely January 2021.  7 billion people will need vaccination and production and administration will take many resources and time to implement.

·         Successful progress to the endpoint requires

o   Education with honest facts supported by good quality medical science

o   Good leadership at all levels – political, religious, and cultural.

o   The public must trust leadership, follow directives and work for the common good.

Sn:01June2020

This is the library of the HOPE (Helping Orphans Purse Education) Project in Mombasa Kenya.  These children take their shoes off before they enter the library which is always crowded.  Perhaps we could learn something from their example.

THIS PENTECOST MAY YOU BE iNFLAMED WITH THE PEACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

01 May 2020

COVID 19 PANDEMIC IMPACTS EAST AFRICA

“What gives me hope is communities rallying around each other. In Kenya, we reacted to the fact that the disease would hit the poor harder than the rich. We have had food drives, with people doing as much as they can to help within the community. We don’t have the facilities, but we (the people) have a long history of responding to crises, mobilizing around public health. The public is trying to believe and act communally.”

Kenyan political analyst and author Nanjala Nyabola

     Nevertheless, East African countries are struggling.  Kenya confirmed the first case of Covid 19 on March 12, 2020 and followed with regulations for lockdowns, instituting a 7pm curfew on March 26.  This led to evening chaos at the Likoni ferry in Mombasa when police used tear gas and beatings to admit only 300 of the 1400 passengers normally allowed to board.

Kathy Flatoff - St. Patrick Dispensary
Bangladesh Informal Settlement - Mombasa Kenya

     East Africa will need to use local solutions to address their unique problems.  In densely populated informal settlements, water and food is purchased daily as 85% of traders work in the informal sector.  20 million people are already short of food.  This year has been troubled by heavy rains, flooding, landslides and a swarm of locust twenty times the size of last year. People are short of food.

Creatively, Maryknoll Lay Missioner Kathy Flatoff works with the parish leaders and priests in St. Patrick Catholic Church in the largest informal settlement of Bangladesh in Mombasa to assist vulnerable people.  Donations are channeled via Mpesa phone transfers to people identified by the parish leaders.  Women were prioritized and 500 shillings ($5) were sent to individuals after meticulous review.  This amount will purchase two-pound bags of rice, beans and maize flour at regular intervals, thereby supporting local food vendors and decreasing physical contact and disturbances at distribution centers.

     Maryknoll Fr. Joe Healey has worked with Small Christian Communities (SCCs) all over East Africa and globally.  He currently lives in Kenya where 45,000 SCCs would meet weekly.  With the Kenyan lockdown, meetings ended abruptly.  Rather than die they went digital.  They are finding ways to access money for smart phones and data bundles to connect pastorally and use phone transfers to distribute funds to vulnerable people.

     Amnesty International Kenya and 15 other community organizations have called for a ban on water and electricity charges to the public utilities in addition to removing a ban on rain water harvesting in Nairobi’s informal settlements.

     During the first two weeks of April, Uganda did manage to flatten the curve of Covid 19 at 55 cases and no deaths.  New cases have now continued to rise.  Previous experience with Marburg and Ebola epidemics prepared the country with improved public health protocols.  An educated public complied immediately with suspension of international flights and restrictions on internal movement.  Food vendors have slept in their market stalls for 14 days to avoid exposing themselves and others to infection.   The government is distributing food to 1.5 million vulnerable families and has halted evictions of communities from contested lands.  It also supports businesses by rescheduling social security contributions.

     Tanzania has struggled with mixed messaging.  The president encourages citizens to continue to gather in places of worship to ‘rid the body of Christ of this devilish virus’.  However, Bishop Niwemugizi of Rulenge-Ngara diocese carefully evaluated the evolution of the pandemic in other parts of the world and decided to suspend all community religious gatherings for one month beginning April 19^th.  Maryknoll Missioners at the Lake House of Prayer in Mwanza have directed the faithful to continue their prayers in the safety of their homes.  Meanwhile, missioners are providing culturally sensitive public health education for prevention and treatment and have organized the local production of over 1000 face coverings.

      South Sudan is one of the weakest nations in the world and 34 cases have been confirmed as of 1st May with limited testing.  The WHO has delivered testing supplies and PPE to prepare for an expected progression of disease.  The government has partially locked down movement by closing schools, shops, borders and airports. Lay missioner Gabe Hurrish is restricted to Kuron Peace Village and Fr. Mike Bassano cannot enter section III of the Malakal Protection of Civilian camp.  Both remain in South Sudan and continue to provide pastoral and educational assistance as they are able.

     It is expected that the pandemic will overwhelm the health care services on the African continent very easily as all infrastructures are fragile.  Nearly 60% of the population are under age 25 but 56% are living in crowded centers and many have HIV, TB and malnutrition.  The WHO estimates 10 million Africans could be infected by Covid 19 in the next six months.  The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa is calling for a $100 billion safety net to provide testing and treatment.

     However, food insecurity is the most immediate problem. 1.2 billion people reside on the African continent and 20% are undernourished; the highest percentage in the world.  Droughts, floods, locusts and war caused this. Lock downs for public health protection that restrict movement exacerbate it by increasing the price of food while decreasing grazing land and access to markets. 

     The WFP estimates 30 million Africans are food insecure and 300,000 could die each day for the next three months without assistance.  It needs $1.9 billion immediately to avert this crisis.  Then, they will need $10 billion for the remainder of the year as well as an end to conflicts and unimpeded humanitarian access.

     The nations of the world are like boats trying to navigate the ocean of the Covid pandemic.  Some countries steer luxury liners.  These who are privileged need to throw a rope to save the African boats which are already being engulfed by waves of food insecurity, hunger and soon starvation.  

PEACE OF ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER TO YOU
May he intercede for casual laborers to find work at this difficult time!!!

https://www.smallchristiancommunities.org - click on the Facebook icon to go to the next link....

https://www.facebook.com/www.smallchristiancommunities.org

https://www.theelephant.info/reflections/2020/04/18/covid-19-in-africa-to-eat-or-to-heal/

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2020/04/06/kenya-coronavirus-lockdowns 

https://www.nation.co.ke/counties/mombasa/Chaos-rock-Likoni-ferry-crossing/1954178-5505438-tgnv84/index.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52354857

https://theconversation.com/why-a-one-size-fits-all-approach-to-covid-19-could-have-lethal-consequences-134252

https://mklm.org/7000-bars-of-soap/

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/africa/news/2020-04/covid-19-africa-could-end-up-suffering-the-most.html

https://www.africanews.com/2020/04/20/courage-through-a-lens-a-ugandan-journalist-s-covid-19-chronicle/ 

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3081312/prayer-not-lockdown-these-african-leaders-answer-coronavirus

https://www.afro.who.int/news/who-prepositions-supplies-speed-testing-suspected-covid-19-cases-south-sudan

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/world/africa/coronavirus-hunger-crisis.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_NN_p_20200423&instance_id=17877&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=127404277&section=topNews&segment_id=25792&te=1&user_id=0ce8dac562c8998105e02485745d6854

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-africa-un-idUSKBN21Z1LW?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook

https://www.dw.com/en/severe-hunger-threatens-africa-during-covid-19-lockdowns/a-53212565

01 April 2020

LIKONI FERRY MOMBASA MARCH 2020

PANDEMIC

     I write from a very comfortable abode in Urbana Illinois, caring for my 87 year old mother and working from home for Maryknoll Lay Missioners.  This week I received a video clip from the ferry in Mombasa Kenya, a place I would regularly cross over, on my way to do my clinics when I lived there from 2010 to 2018.  I had to force myself to watch the horror.

     Kenya instituted a curfew last week because of Covid 19.  They require people to be in their home by 7pm, which is dusk, until 5am.  The first night the police and army used tear gas and beat people viciously to force them to run towards the ferry as the night curfew approached. These are all of the common people who live across the harbor in little shacks and work on the island doing menial low paying jobs for people of means.  They live from day to day on the pittance they earn.

     On March 22nd the Catholic church in Juba South Sudan installed the new Archbishop at a huge celebration bringing people together from all over the country to eat, drink and celebrate.  I told our missioner who works there it should not happen and he should not go.  Three days later the government closed the airport and all borders because of the pandemic.  That is like closing the barn door after all the cattle have run out.

     In the USA New Orleans is overwhelmed with Covid patients for the last 10 days.  They celebrated Mardi Gras about a month before that, just about the time their cattle got out of the barn.  I pray for South Sudan during the coming month hoping the same thing doesn't happen to them.

     In Tanzania the president has said that all churches will remain open because the virus is a devil and it can't live in the body of Christ.  He says prayers are needed to get rid of it.  There are few test kits available where our people work.  Tanzania reports only 19 cases as of today.

     I am working long hours at the computer trying to support our people in Asia and the Americas too, but East Africa is what I know best.  Here in Urbana, Illinois I go to the grocery store once a week and take my elderly mother on walks in the neighborhood.  We have running water and electricity, shelter and money saved in the bank.  Many people here have lost their jobs.  The food banks and soup kitchens are ramping up to serve those who live from pay check to pay check since the last check just ran out and they can't buy food.  

     But I know we are blessed beyond measure compared to countries in the global south.  There, people live from day to day on the water and food they bring home to their crowded shacks in the informal settlements.  In this pandemic I suspect that those in the rural areas will fair better.  There will be more fresh air and some food in their gardens if the rains come and the locusts go away. 

     The last pandemic was The Great Influenza in 1918.  Some people call it 'Spanish flu' but it had nothing to do with Spain and that is a misnomer.  It killed at least 50 million people.  Because of WWI, various countries prevented reporting about the illness and huge ships with soldiers traveled from the USA to Europe spreading the virus which preferred to take the lives of young people in their early twenties.  The lesson to learn from that debacle is TELL THE TRUTH! 

     If we are smart we will learn that pandemic means none of us has any immunity to this virus and we are all vulnerable to varying degrees.  It is a super spreader which means it is very easy to transmit and because it is new we have a lot to learn about how it operates.  We live in a very globalized world with movement everywhere and it will make its way everywhere.  We may contain it in one place but if it pops up in another place it can come back to haunt us until we get a treatment and a vaccine.

     The experts tell us we need to test and  quarantine those infected to stop it from spreading so fast. It kills those who are most vulnerable because they are over 60 and weaker or have an illness like lung or heart disease or a bad immune system.  It has already overwhelmed some of the best health care systems in the world.  When it gets to the global south it will decimate them. 

     Lent is the best time to reassess the way we live our lives and let go of what holds us back from birthing something new and even better.  I do believe in Resurrection and life.  This pandemic will make sure we pay attention to what is essential...relationships and love.

PEACE OF THE DAFFODILS BLOOMING HERE TO YOU!

     

01 March 2020

South Sudan: Progress Toward Peace

Steve Veryser, a Maryknoll Lay Missioner in Tanzania and the Lay Missioners’ Area Director for Tanzania and Kenya/South Sudan, wrote the following article after visiting South Sudan. The article was published in the March-April 2020 issue of NewsNotes.

In February I traveled to Juba, the capitol of South Sudan, to visit Maryknoll Lay Missioner Gabe Hurrish, who works at an organization called Solidarity with South Sudan. I had worked in South Sudan in disease eradication before I joined Maryknoll, and Maryknoll missioners have worked there for years. While I was visiting, we spoke with a graduate of Solidarity’s Teacher Training program who is now teaching at a school outside of Juba in a “Protection of Civilians” (POC) camp, a place where internally displaced people are offered protection by the UN. Remarking on the ongoing peace negotiations in South Sudan, the teacher shared, “We all want peace. But we are at the mercy of the leaders. The two [main] leaders and others just don’t like each other. They don’t listen to the heart of the people. We feel there is more hope now than before. We appreciate international people obliging the leaders to discuss peace. Life in the POC is terrible. We can do nothing. We can’t improve our lives. There are no jobs.” 

There's a saying in East Africa that “when elephants fight the grass gets trampled.” Violent conflict in Sudan and South Sudan has wreaked havoc on the population on and off for decades. If the elephants are the leaders and the grass is the people, in the complexity of the conflict it is often hard to tell where the grass ends and the elephants begin.

On February 20, President Salva Kiir and his vice president, Riek Machar, who leads the main opposition group, finally started implementation of a unity government in accordance with a deadline set under the peace accord, which ended the devastating civil war in 2018. This was an important step, finally achieved after numerous delays and setbacks in the peace negotiations. Various international actors, including the United States, are supporting the agreement. As the teacher we met mentioned, it has often seemed like the leaders have been “obliged into” the agreements by these external actors.

What is the use of forming a “unity” government? In a unity government, people who were marginalized or targeted during the civil war, as well as members of active opposition groups, are asked to come to the same table for negotiations and to share offices, military posts, and neighborhoods. Given the trauma that people from all levels of society have experienced, this is a tall order. While I worked for an organization in South Sudan associated with the Ministry of Health, I remember that the Minister of Health himself, who was from a targeted ethnic group, fled Juba fearing for his life. Large numbers of refugees who fled the civil war are trying to reintegrate into society, although they may have grown up outside of South Sudan and may not even speak a language native to South Sudan. Many people lost land and valuable resources, such as herds of cattle, during the war. Ultimately, the tenability of long-term peace rests on how well people can reintegrate into society and the willingness of aggressors to accommodate those returning. After so many cycles of violence, will the aggrieved be able to forgive their oppressors? The churches in South Sudan are begging for these reconciliations and they know that peace is dependent on them.

While the greed of Kiir and Machar and tribalism are often blamed for the persistent violence in the country, there are also external interests at work behind the scenes. The Somali poet Ali Dhuh once said something to the effect, “the genius of whites is that they can both cause a conflict and then come in to broker peace.” Again, in this case it is difficult to say exactly who the “whites” are in this situation. Suffice it to say that the same neighboring regional countries and global powers that vie for the upper hand in this strategic and resource-rich region of the world are the parties trying to broker peace in the country and offering aid to the people of South Sudan. 

In the optimistic time in which South Sudan achieved independence from the North in 2011, one of the first major infrastructure plans proposed was a pipeline from the oil fields in northern South Sudan to Lamu, on the Kenyan coast. The proposed pipeline would benefit Kenya and allow South Sudan to sell oil to the United States. Currently South Sudan is only able to export oil by means of a pipeline ending in Sudan, and Sudan is barred from selling oil to the United States due to its inclusion on a list of “state sponsors of terrorism.” Other countries, especially China, which invested heavily in the existing pipeline, continue to buy South Sudanese oil from Sudan. So it seems that there may be bigger “elephants” fighting over power and resources than Kiir and Machar, and also bigger than the leaders in the neighboring countries. In trying to convince the leadership in South Sudan to come to peaceful terms and usher in a stable peace for the population, those brokering the peace are treating the symptoms rather than the causes of the conflict. The international powers need to be held accountable for their efforts to control power and resources without regard for the local people.

Gabe noted, “Despite the emotional trauma of losing loved ones to senseless acts of violence, the people of this country carry on. They are sad, frustrated, angry and even vengeful but they carry on. They do what they have to do to support their families. It is this spirit which I feel as I meet them and share their stories.”

As I was leaving, Gabe lent me a book about the life of South Sudanese Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban, the founder of Peace Village, a place where people of diverse ethnic groups live together. To close, I’d like to share a quote from him that I feel expresses the spirit of mission: “If there is any message I have continuously tried to pass on to others, this has always been the one of peace and love. I see myself as a bee; my task is to sting around, not with the intention of causing harm but of awakening people and transforming lives.” 

Photo: South Sudanese citizens affected by the civil war. Photo available in the public domain.

Greetings to all.  I was able to help with the preparation of this article above.  The signing of an agreement in Afghanistan yesterday is another hopeful sign of peace where there has been conflict.  Wishing you all a blessed Lenten season...susan

14 February 2020

Dr. Susan Nagele with South Sudanese family.
Photo credit: Sean Sprague

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 16, 2020 

Sir 15:15-20

1 Cor 2:6-10

Mt 5:17-37

Blessed are they who choose to follow the law of the Lord

Psalm 119:1

     I was crossing the border between Kenya and Uganda on the way to Sudan with a friend.  The border official asked our address.  My friend immediately replied, “Box 10, Nimule, Sudan”.  The official wrote it down and I kept my mouth shut while my eyes bugged out.  There wasn’t a post office in Nimule let alone a post office box.  Wasn’t this a lie?  Doesn’t the 8^th commandment say, “Don’t lie”.  Aren’t details important?  Why not just tell him the truth?  Today’s Gospel says that whoever breaks one of these commandments will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Later, I chided my friend about our address and he shrugged his shoulders.  “They just need to fill in the blank,” he replied. 

     The first reading makes clear that it is our choice whether or not we follow the commandments.  If we so choose, the commandments will save us and we will live. 

     I was visiting the San Egidio Community in Rome many years ago with a Maryknoll priest and at the Eucharistic liturgy an Italian lay man gave the homily.   Only a few weeks earlier, the pope had announced that lay people could not give homilies.  My priest friend asked the other Maryknoll priests in Rome how this could happen with the recent papal announcement.  One of them chuckled and said, “This is Rome.  There is the law and there is life”.   There we were, right in Vatican City State, and it looked like the pope’s order was being flagrantly violated.  But laws and legal systems change over time.  It also takes time to change.  Jesus, himself, said he came to fulfill the law.  That suggests interpretive process, movement and change. 

     I was crossing another border from Sudan into Uganda on my way to a hospital.  I was sick with dysentery and the police were shocked as I dragged myself into their office and asked to use their latrine.  They quickly pointed me in the right direction and hastily wrote out permission for us to enter with our vehicle, encouraging us to go quickly and wishing us a safe journey.   Police at border crossings in East Africa are better known for intimidation and their need for extra cash rather than kindness.  They didn’t ask for my passport, check the car or any number of other details the law required.

     The commandments are guidelines written in black and white and can only give parameters to the spectrum of gray along which life is lived.  Jesus fleshes out some of the commandments and other laws in today’s gospel.  Killing can begin with anger and refusal to reconcile.  Adultery can encompass lust and disrespect.  Rather than making false oaths, just be straight forward and clear about what you want to say. 

     The Gospel last week came from this same passage in Matthew and told us to be salt and light for the earth.  How do we do that?  Let our righteousness surpass the letter of the law of the scribes and Pharisees.  Let the Spirit, ‘which scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God, illuminate those parameters and grey areas that reveal themselves in the day to day living of our lives.  In a nutshell, love determines the essence of the law.  That police officer who chose to care about my welfare, expedite my border crossing and wish me well was following a higher law than the rules in Uganda and the usual behavior of police officers at border crossings.

Blessed are they who choose to follow the law of Love

https://maryknollogc.org/resources/scripture/sixth-sunday-ordinary-time-1