Working with communities in Bahr el-Ghazal, Southern Sudan

Latest news (2002-03)

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December 8th 2003

Unfortunately, due to problems finding a replacement band, we are having to cancel the Hogmanay Ceilidh. We will try again next year.

November 18th 2003

Christian Aid organised a visit to the Island of Joseph Bilal, who is from Juba. Joseph has recently completed his theology degree at Bristol and is returning, with his family, to Juba, where he worked as an Episcopal priest. Joseph gave an interesting talk to an ecumenical gathering of Islanders about his life in Juba and the church in Sudan. The Shading Tree wish him and his family all the best on his return to his homeland.

November 1st 2003

The Shading Tree will be holding a Hogmanay Highland Ceilidh in the Town Hall, Millport. Tickets cost Ł10 and there will be a champagne reception, dancing to a ceilidh band and disco, a raffle and a light supper. A licensed bar will also be available. All proceeds will be for supporting projects in Southern Sudan.

October 20th 2003

This year's Christmas cards have been chosen from designs created by Skelmorlie Primary School. The cards can be seen by clicking on the following links and can be ordered by e-mail. The cards are sold as a set of four and cost Ł1.50. Proceeds are put towards the continuing support of projects in Southern Sudan. Jack's card - Stacey's card - Brent's card - Aidan's card. Many thanks to the winning designers and to all the staff and children of Skelmorlie Primary.

June 1st 2003

The Rift Valley Institute has launched the findings of the Abduction and Slavery Project. More than 11,000 men, women and children have been abducted and more than 10,000 of them are still unaccounted for.

The key statistical findings of the research are:

· 11,105 victims of abduction were recorded over the period 1983-2002

· There were 1,862 raids during that twenty-year period

· 5,148 people were recorded as killed in the raids

· Of the 11,105 abducted, 528 are known to have returned home

· 60 % of recorded abductees were 18 or under at the time of abduction

· The majority of abductees recorded are male

In the worst affected village, Ajok in Aweil West County, 101 adults and children were abducted in a single week.

April 30th 2003

Well, I returned from Southern Sudan in the middle of the month and have settled back in at home on the Island of Cumbrae. I spent the best part of five months in Bahr el-Ghazal with the Rift Valley Institute as the Field Research Coordinator for their most recent project. The project's main aim was to register all those abducted and enslaved by Murahileen raids in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal during the present phase of civil war in Sudan. My role was to coordinate the research in the field, to recruit local researchers and compile the data, which was then sent to the IT unit in Nairobi. The data is available as a searchable database on CD and is available to any agency or organisation which is involved with family tracing or reunification programmes. The database will have about 12,000 or more individuals listed all of whom are either still missing or have, by various means, managed to escape from captivity and return to their homes and families. Inevitably, the list will not be comprehensive nor complete, as there will be many whose names have not been included, for various reasons.

Whilst in Sudan, I was able to follow up on Shading Tree work and I am very happy to say that the Women's Development Centre in Akon is up and running and making good progress. Unfortunately, due to security situation in the Gogrial area the school at Ajiep, though still standing, is not really being used at the moment. Further progress with the school project will depend on how the peace talks progress.

The latest newsletter is now out, but will not be available on-line to non-members for several months yet.

October 25th 2002

The four designs, which we have chosen for the Christmas cards, can be seen at these links, Rhona, Joe, Rachael and Ashley.

September 8th 2002

Not yet Christmas, but some folk are thinking about their Christmas cards already. The Shading Tree (Tim Atiep) has asked the local Primary School in Millport to design a set of four cards and if all is agreeable they will be available by the middle of October. Each set of four cards will probably cost Ł1.50 and will come with envelopes. No previews are available at the moment, but if anyone would like to place advance orders, please send an e-mail to cards@the-shading-tree.org.uk giving the number required and the address to which they should be sent. As soon as a preview is available it will be posted here.

July 28th 2002

A dismal cold, wet and windy day in Glasgow and Jackie Mutch, Queen of the Ziplines, is looking up at the 175 foot high cable attached to the Finnieston Crane. It stretches 1000 feet across the Clyde to Pacific Quay on the south side of the river, but first she has to climb a narrow staircase to reach the top end of the cable. Halfway up she is already soaking wet and knackered, buffeted by wind and rain, but, with shouts of encouragement from her son Stephen and his fiancée Erin, she manages to haul herself to the top. She, then, has to creep along the arm of the crane to the point where she will be harnessed to the cable and thence launch herself into space! Less than two minutes later she is on her feet at Pacific Quay, splattered from head to toe with grease and oil, which has sprayed from the wet cable and the sliding gear, but triumphant. Over the last two months Jackie has managed to raise nearly Ł500 in sponsorship for The Shading Tree (Tim Atiep). And there is still some to be collected. Many congratulations and grateful thanks to her and all the staff and customers of The Royal George Hotel, Caldwell's Newsagents, the Newton Bar and the Kelburn Bar, all in Millport, for their encouragement and support.

THANKS A MILLION JACKIE!

June 30th 2002

I have now set up a web page for the Newsletter. Members with e-mail will be informed by e-mail when the newsletter has been posted, with a link to go to it. The current newsletter will be opened to the public domain after the publication of the next one. An index page is here.

June 7th 2002
I wrote to the four MPs who visited Sudan in April. The text of my letter and the replies I have received have been copied to a special Advocacy page. Please click on that link to see them. I have also received a reply from the Chairman of British Airways, which I have posted to the Complaints page, along with a copy of my letter.

April 30th 2002
I arrived in good order in Nairobi and after only ten days I was in Lokichoggio. I had hoped to spend only a week in Nairobi, but I was slightly delayed whilst applying for my travel pass from the SRRA, the humanitarian wing of SPLM. Loki was very hot and uncomfortable and the UN base is probably one of the aid world’s most boring and artificial places, but I was able to renew some friendships and catch up on the situation in Southern Sudan. My former workmates in SCF (now called SC-UK) had agreed to put me on their flight list and I was soon booked onto a UN flight to Rumbek. From Rumbek I travelled by Landcruiser with one of the UN Security Officers and two days later he dropped me off in Alek, a small town 12 miles north of Gogrial. I was to stay for two weeks in Alek, mainly because I was not able to go to Ajiep, which had not been given security clearance by UN Security. I went to Gogrial town to pay my respects to the new County Commissioner, James Lual Deng Kuol, who I had first met in 1995, and found him in the middle of a County Congress under a large grove of mango trees. All the chiefs, administration officers and officials, anyone who was anybody in Gogrial County, was there and I was invited to attend. I had shown the Commissioner a photograph of my father, Tim Atiep, and it was quickly requisitioned and passed around the whole gathering, before finally being pinned to the front of the main table. The meeting that day was really a progress report and planning session, and, of course, was conducted in thok Muonyjiang, the Dinka language, my understanding of which had diminished since last year. However, it was a pleasant re-introduction and I sat feeling very important next to the Commissioner! Halfway through the day, there was a bit of activity and some notes were passed back and forth between the Commissioner and an SPLA Commander and the meeting was interrupted in order for the military personnel and the local police force to be ordered out to their posts around the southern and western sides of the town, as there was report of government militia activity along the road that comes from Wau, the government- controlled capital of Bahr el-Ghazal. Security was tightened up around the mangoes, but the Congress continued and I was given the opportunity to explain again the objectives of the Shading Tree (Tim Atiep). Sadly, I also learned about the raid on Ajiep, which was attacked by the Popular Defence Force, a government-backed militia, which, during the dry season, rides across country on horseback raiding, burning and looting and abducting women and children. Normally, they launch their raids in late January, but on this occasion, they attacked on Christmas Eve. The people of Ajiep had little warning and had to run for their lives into the bush without being able to pick up any of their belongings. Three children, a girl and two boys, were killed in the church, a fenced off area under a fig tree and several other people were killed whilst running away. Some reports say that the children were deliberately killed, rather than being caught in cross-fire. The PDF looted the houses and the MSF compound and Health Centre and took whatever livestock, grain and medicines they could find, before heading back to Wau using captives as porters. Some of those captured were released and sent home, but a number of young boys and girls were kept and sent north as part of the booty. Uncharacteristically, the PDF did not burn the houses, the MSF compound or the school. So, when I eventually made my way to Ajiep from Luonyaker, I found the school intact though deserted. In fact, Ajiep as a whole was almost deserted, because the people themselves were not yet confident of their security and were staying in two other areas some 20 or so miles away, one to the north and the other to the south east. They were staying in small conical shelters made from branches and bundles of grass and relying on the support of friends or relatives, whilst waiting for food and blankets and relief items from the aid agencies. Yet this was already nearly two months after the event. The school has 14 classrooms and latrines. The small office still has no roof, but materials have been found. The school has been well attended in the last year and is also being supported with schoolbooks and teacher training by other agencies. With the wet season now starting security will improve and life will return to relative normality. I, meanwhile, had a lot of trouble from British Airways (BA) regarding my flight home and have written a letter to the Chairman, Lord Marshall. So far no reply, but I will be posting my letter here shortly.

What about the funds raised?
I caught up with Alfred Amet Kuol, the Executive chief and some of the community leaders at the end of February and we agreed that I would leave just under $4000 with the Commissioner. Meanwhile, a committee was to be established in Ajiep, which would discuss with the community how the money was to be used for the school and a plan would be presented to the Commissioner. He would then release the money in stages and only on the presentation of progress reports and documentation as to the use of the money. I decided not to disclose the full amount raised and have returned with the balance, pending progress. I am confident that Commissioner James Lual, who has incidentally paid his membership fee for the Shading Tree (Tim Atiep), will supervise the work effectively and will ensure that the money is not misused. I will keep you all informed.

January 2002
A Happy and Propserous New Year to all out supporters.
The Hogmanay Highland Ceilidh went with a "reel" swing and raised a wonderful £1400. Many thanks to everyone for making the night so enjoyable and to Christine Steverson and Ion McBay for organising everything. Diane Robertson and Howard McCrindle arranged a delicious buffet and Andy Philips, Archie McKillop and Steven Dalgleish provided the musical entertainment. Thanks also to Jackie Mutch and to Martin Clark and all those who donated prizes for the raffle or made contributions in one way or another.

Since June 2001 when we began our appeal for £5000 for the school project in Ajiep, we have managed to raise over £6000. A good proportion of this sum has been raised in Millport, so many many thanks to the Island of Cumbrae for the very generous support. Thanks also to the Sudan Government British Pensioners' Association for allowing us to include a leaflet in their newsletter, which brought a wonderful response.

Fergus is leaving for Nairobi on the 22nd January and hopes to be in Ajiep by the beginning of February. He hopes to be back in Scotland by the end of April, when he will be able to pass on news of progress.

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