Working with communities in Bahr el-Ghazal, Southern Sudan

Fergus Deng Malual and friends, Akon

Fergus Boyle

Fergus, known as Deng Malual Tim Atiep in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, spent four and a half years in the region as a Field Officer for the Save the Children Fund (SCF). In addition, he has had extensive experience of working in communities overseas, having been a project assistant to a development programme in Darfur, Western Sudan, a teacher in a Palestinian school, an aquaculture trainer in Ghana and a programme manager in Somalia. Currently he is a freelance international projects assessor for funding bodies such as the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and is a Director of the Cumbrae Community Development Company in his home town of Millport on the Island of Cumbrae. The CCDC is restoring an historic building in the town, the Garrison, and will establish it as a focal point and an asset for the community. He also lets out his home, Downcraig Ferry, for family holidays. Recently he spent five months in Bahr el-Ghazal as the Field Research Coordinator for the Rift Valley Institute. The RVI project involved creating a register of all those in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal who have been abducted and enslaved by Murahileen raiders during the present phase of the civil war in Sudan. The results of this research and more information on the RVI can be found at the RVI website. Early this year, 2004, Fergus spent a month working on a feasibility study for Unicef, which could extend the Abduction Research into the areas of Bahr el-Ghazal which are under government control and into the North of Sudan.

Fergus is also available for consultancy work and as an independent assessor or evaluator in the region of Bahr el-Ghazal or within Sudan as a whole. Any international NGO or funding agency which requires a service of this kind can contact Fergus at consultancy@the-shading-tree.org.uk

During his time as Field Officer, Bahr el-Ghazal, he lived in and worked with the communities of Gogrial, Aweil East and Wau Counties. In 1993, when projects were started in the region, SCF and two UN agencies were the only agencies providing relief. The main centre was in Akon and for about a year the security situation was relatively stable, but accessing areas outside Akon was difficult, there being few roads which could be used except in the dry season and very few airstrips. All relief items had to be flown in to Akon (a two to three hour flight) from Northern Kenya, using Operation Lifeline Sudan planes and logistics. The project concentrated very much on emergency relief and the provision of seeds and tools and fishing equipment. As time went on, the programme developed a more community development based strategy, with longer term aims, such as providing veterinary, education and water services, as well as supporting community projects, such as blacksmithing cooperatives and fishing camps. However, access, though it became more widespread with the clearing of more bush airstrips, was still difficult and as the security situation became more precarious, it became necessary to operate a much more mobile programme. Despite these difficulties, being more mobile (mostly on foot, but occasionally by bicycle) and being able to spend more time within many scattered communities, rather than being based in one place, allowed Fergus to gain a better understanding of the people and their communities. It became clear to him that emergency relief on its own was not enough and that more emphasis should be directed towards community development projects and local capacity building, with the initiatives coming from the communities rather than the donors or the implementing agencies.

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