Making a difference in South Sudan

Many people and organizations are involved in the reconstruction of south Sudan at different levels and in different aspects. Hopefully, all these efforts put together will help to transform the southern Sudanese community. One of such people is James Baak, a Sudanese who is currently a student and a resident in Kenya. He is an employee of African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM). This is a humanitarian organization that runs a number of projects in many parts of Africa. James is from Bahr el Ghazal in south Sudan. Working with ALARM as the regional coordinator, he is involved in training of church and community leaders to be peace builders in the society. This involves giving them leadership, reconciliation and mediation skills to enable them function well in their leadership roles. ALARM is helping to fill the gap that is there in south Sudan where we have many people in leadership positions but without any formal training to make them more effective. The organization realizes that to make a wholistic person needs not only human development but also other areas of life. Therefore, ALARM, in partnership with other organizations like World Concern, Five Talents and the Episcopal Church of Sudan, Wau diocese, are also involved in micro-finance and education. They are therefore empowering not only the leaders but the community as a whole. In 2007, ALARM started a high school in the region, Hope Secondary School and Linda Primary School, in Lietnhom. Through Five Talents, women are given literacy skills then given loans to set up their own businesses. This has brought transformation to families where the women are now able to read and write, do simple arithmetic, and run their own businesses successfully. One of the most outstanding things that has happened in this community is the building of a community bank in Amatwuot, with the support of Five Talents. This is a bank that provides a place where the locals, especially traders, can keep their money safely for the night. The bank does not only serve the local people; the government too uses it to keep money before it can be withdrawn and paid to its workers in the area. Interestingly, the local people can also buy shares in the bank. “This increases the sense of ownership. It has helped the people deal with the problem of thuggery and break-ins that was rampant in the community,” says Baak. According to Baak, since 2004, when ALARM first came to Bahr el Ghazal, there has been a lot of impact in the area. Close to 400 leaders from different communities around the place have been trained and sent back to their communities as agents of peace. A good example of the impact of these trainings was seen in 2008 when there was a fight between two communities from two different counties. ALARM, working together with the government, brought together leaders from these communities and impressed upon them the need for encouraging their people to live at peace with each other. This helped to quell the violence that was threatening to get out of hand. The church leaders who are trained are better able to deal with issues at the grassroot level, since they are closer and familiar with the people around them. “This has equipped them with basic theological training, and now they are able to preach more knowledgeably and this has resulted in growth in their churches too,” says Baak. Baak is currently enrolled at Daystar University in Nairobi, pursuing a degree course in Community Development, with a minor in Peace and Conflict Transformation. He believes this is important for him since it will help him have a wholistic approach to ministry. Already, he is ordained as a minister with the Episcopal Church of Sudan, diocese of Wau. “This course is relevant to our context in Sudan since people have wounds in their hearts. They have to be helped out of the trauma of the war,” says Baak. He believes that knowledge of community development will be helpful to him as he goes back home. “This is very relevant to us because there is a lot of construction that has to be done in south Sudan – of schools, churches and hospitals.” Of his university he says, “I feel Daystar has prepared me adequately to contribute to the Sudanese community.” At this time when south Sudan is looking forward to voting for secession from the north, Baak says that the church needs to actively play the role of civic education to help people make informed choices about the coming poll. “The church should also continue playing its role of creating awareness about the situation in Sudan. This will help keep leaders accountable. The church is the voice of the voiceless and is also non-partisan, unlike the politicians,” he adds. Baak says that the church should give people hope; “Hope is the driving force for the southerners to overcome the challenges that they face.” Like every other southerner who went through the trauma of war, he is looking forward to the independence of the south. “The time for unity is now past. Separation is the only option that has never been tried in Sudan previously. This is what we want to try in the referendum polling” Being an agent of peace, separation from the north does not mean being enemies with the north. “We can still co-exist as the people of Sudan.” His opinion is that a lot of work needs to be done in reconciling people and protecting human rights. He hopes that one day there will be a Christian university in south Sudan to train Christian leaders. For this, he is willing to partner with the Good Shepherd Leadership Centre to support its vision of developing such an institution in south Sudan. He strongly advocates for partnership in the country for there to be real impact. “No one NGO or institution can do all the work in the south alone. We need partnerships to achieve lasting impact.” Baak’s advice to organizations that are planning to come into Sudan is that they should think of long term involvement in the country because of the huge needs that are there. Baak is married to one wife and they have two children, an 8 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. He is a regular preacher at the St. Luke’s ACK Church in Ngumo, Nairobi, where a Sudanese congregation meets every Sunday. His last words are: “The church is strategically placed to bring change in south Sudan because of its closeness to the people and the trust the people have put in it. The church has the answers to the many issues that are facing the society.”