For Her Own Piece of Mind: Happy Birthday, South Sudan

July 9^th was Independence Day for South Sudan. The country turned a whopping 2 years old! Here are a few of my thoughts on the celebration.

1. All of the adults’ speeches were in Arabic (with a spattering of tribal languages), while the children’s performances were strictly English. Even the 4 year olds spoke confidently into the microphone in their newly-learned language. What does this indicate? Progress and commitment to the next generation. All the schools in South Sudan operate in English, which is inarguably the language of business and arguably the language of global unity. Parents who do not speak any English encourage their kids to rise through its mastery, and educators take seriously the difficult task of teaching fluency to students who have no reinforcement outside school. The next generation will be significantly better off because of these efforts.

2. Certain values are universally embedded in the people here. One small boy gave a speech that stressed the need for South Sudan to have “peace, love, and trust” above all things and for the people to always stand in community with one another. He was lauded by all subsequent speakers, who expanded upon his words. What beautiful values to be nationally bonding! As the speakers all spoke of God’s love for South Sudan, I wondered to myself if the strong societal focus on faith has anything to do with these particular values being chosen above others.

3. There was a strong focus on peace/war, which is a big fat “duh” considering the freshness of their struggle for independence and the current conflicts still going on between Sudan and South Sudan. It blows my mind how real this holiday is for them. They’ve only been a country for two years! They fought hard for decades to be able to celebrate an independence day. For them, independence means (finally!) peace. One school performed a song which reminded us that their “fathers all died in the war for independence,” their “mothers all died” and their “sisters and brothers all died in the war for independence,” and I’m sure that’s entirely true for many of the students singing. Though I thought it was a devastatingly sad song, all the people cheered loudly. I’m used to peace, so I only heard “death”; they’re so used to war, they only heard “independence”.

4. One sad indication that I am living in a post-war third-world country was a comment in a speech made by a high-ranking leader of the army. Referencing a petrol (gasoline) robbery a few days before, his message to the thieves was “You steal our petrol, we steal your life. When we catch you, you are finished.” He then sarcastically referenced the NGOs’ and international organizations’ ridiculous “talk of ‘human rights’” which he promised “South Sudan will not give into.”

5. One (fairly drunk) army soldier got onstage and lip-synced a song while several other (quite drunk) soldiers took turns dancing around him. While I laughed at them, the people I was sitting with cheered and said, “they fought hard for this. They should be celebrating!” It seemed indeed that the celebration was mainly for the military, or at least 90% of the seated guests were military. Their comments and my surroundings made me think again about the sacrifices made by these men, and I promptly closed my mouth.

All-in-all, it was a very thought-provoking day for me as an outsider and as a person desperately trying to understand the inside track here. God Bless South Sudan.