Africa Vision 42

Africa Vision 42

November 24, 2008

A future and present leader.

Yesterday I had dinner with a Sudanese friend Ibrahim Musa Adam. He fled his home region a long time ago and is a fixer, translator, humanitarian, activist and most of all he is a humble and great guy. Over the last years he has worked for or with Aegis Trust, Waging Peace, The Greatest Good and several other NGO’s and groups. He is full of ideas and as we sat and laughed the evening away several topics popped up. When I asked him his 2 most important findings in the camps and in Darfur he said that the single most important thing is secondary education. If that does not come many refugees want to learn how to fight to solve the conflict in Darfur. It has been 5 years and an age group is losing time and opportunity to progress and learn.

He must meet Mr. Guru and Mr. Corporate Tree. They have come down to Chad to learn about the needs in the refugee camps and the surrounding areas. Their first thought was about starting secondary education in a refuge camp. Time and time again education pops up on list of things that will help in reconciliation, in keeping hope, in believing in a future, in creating a destiny. Why it has to take nearly 5 years to start up a secondary school goes beyond me. And believe it or not as I write this Mr. Tree calls. They call to touch base and share the excitement of visiting a camp for the first time. I miss my buddies. I have been aptly named Mr. Brahma chicken, the biggest chicken around. Smiles around. I am sure it will be one inspired meeting next Friday.

Mr. Ibrahim is filling out his application for a scholarship in Washington D.C. at George Washington University. It is a Banaa scholarship and I had the good fortune to meet two of the founding members of the organization while at the STAND (Students Action Now Darfur) National Conference in Washington only some months ago. The dream of that organization has to do with offering people from all over Sudan an opportunity to study reconciliation and conflict resolution. Ibrahim is one of the current leaders that deserves a place in my eyes. As he is sitting across the desk he is writing a 150-word entry on the story of a boy with terrible burn wounds for which he managed to find sponsors to have major reconstructive surgery done in South Africa. Then he will sweat on a 250-word essay on the future of Sudan.

At lunch we bumped into a Ghanaian friend. His country has been an example for many other African nations. Asked why he said first of all the first president Nkrumah a true visionary. One of his first steps was to abolish the name of the tribe in the name of people. After all are Ghanaians first not tribe members of X and Y. Then he focused on developing the part of the country that was left behind before independence. One of the main steps was opening primary and secondary schools. But also universities and vocational schools were founded or expanded.

What a contrast with Sudan / Darfur. In Darfur it was in the 60’s only that the first secondary school was opened. And racism has been an unofficial part of the workings of the government since independence. Exclusion of fellow Muslims in Darfur and the Eastern part of the country, animist/Christians in the South and Centre, exploitation and suppression to the ‘superior’ riverine Arab culture. Religion abused, the religion of brother and sisterhood corrupted to the difference of people on the basis of skin color or perceived African-ness versus Arab-ness.

At lunch we also talked about the use of aircrafts to bomb the refugee camps of Kalma and Hamidia in Zaleingi in November 2007. NGO’s were forced to leave and the silver birds fly in to release their firework. There are degrees of cowardice and this reaches the top of the pile. Now for all diplomacy and silent work of humanitarians were has it lead to? There is a repeating pattern of an abusive pattern of a bully getting away with mass murder, rape as a weapon of wart, mass destruction, aerial bombardment of civilian places, malnutrition as a weapon of war, arming of proxy fighters, avoiding international criminal justice, flaunting international regulations and on and on.

The African troops may roll into Sudan soon, but to protect what? Darfuri business people are voting with there feet setting up shop in the South of Sudan or Kordofan. And again there is the issue of mandate and the political courage to stand up to the playground bully. And then there is the economical interest of the Security Council members. Darfuri’s have shown tremendous resilience, dignity and humor despite the toothless responses of the International, African brothers and sisters.

I hope that people like my friend Ibrahim keep their golden smiles and vision for a peaceful Sudan.

Namaskar,

Ashis