Update from Juba on National Reconciliation Campaign

14 February 2013
Kathryn Gor

The first four of us from the International Team for the South Sudan Journey of Healing for National Reconciliation have now safely arrived in South Sudan; Mike and Jean Brown and Nyok and Kathryn Gor. We flew into Juba, South Sudan on Tuesday afternoon to some particularly warm sunshine and were quickly escorted by our hosts to a very comfortable hotel.

Since then we have managed to meet with some of our South Sudanese friends and have felt warmly welcomed by all. In fact, I am writing this from the Office of the Vice President as we wait to meet up with him for our 11am appointment.

Much work has been done since we were in Juba last year; a project planning committee has been established and they have been meeting regularly to follow up with the many complex decisions and tasks required to launch this initiative. Apart from the four day conference in April, the other main focus is running six weeks of training for 200 youth 'mobilisers' to promote peace in their communities across South Sudan.

The Vice President has personally attended consultations in Juba with International NGOs, Faith based organisations, Civil Society Organisations, political parties and the media. Some of these consultations lasted for four hours!

It seems that word has travelled quickly; many South Sudanese have heard about these projects and there has been much discussion in the media and online about how to best promote national reconciliation. One of the planning team was amused when a friend with whom she had quarrelled sent a message apologising 'in the spirit of reconciliation!' This project is not without its detractors. One significant challenge is to bring the diversity of opinions and experience to the table. We will keep you up to date as we tackle this one.

We have been encouraged by the continued interest and support from around the world, particularly a number of donations. We deeply appreciate your ongoing prayer and support.

We will continue to meet with our friends in Juba who are involved in this process as Mike and Jean establish some of the practical details of the project. Nyok and Kathryn are still liaising with diaspora from around the world and are making tentative plans for travelling to various parts of the country to engage grassroots communities. We are looking forward to the arrival of the rest of our team in the coming weeks, especially Amina Dikedi-Ajakaiye, Project Leader.