South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Okech Francis
The beautiful cultural dresses, the varied local foods, the different traditional songs and dances are a beauty to watch when the youths of South Sudan gather together, all in warmth and unity despite the ethnic divides.
Cultural Trend Network is a not for profit youth led organization, influenced by the beauty of amalgamating different cultures yearly bringing together various groups to showcase their unique but beautiful traditions.
“We do this to create unity and harmony among the different cultures so that the youths develop respect among one another,” Andrew Pax, the Program Manager of Cultural Trend Network, told The Dawn in an interview in Juba.
At the festivals, cultural artistic stuffs, dressings, artifacts and as well music, storytelling and poetry from the different ethnic communities are showcased.
“Every culture in South Sudan is our identity. Look at our different foods-it is not just about filling our stomach but a means through which we express our unity as South Sudanese,” Pax said.
“Promoting our cultures also promotes the unity of South Sudan and drives us towards peace.”
With 64 tribes on record, South Sudan stands out as a country of unique cultural diversity.
Embracing tolerance towards this diversity will develop a cohesion that will strengthen the peace, unity and development of the country.
South Sudan is currently focusing on such unity in order to create harmony in a bid to create a fundamental solution after many years of crisis.
The government is composed of a diverse leadership under a transitional arrangement system that has pacified the country following the crisis which began in 2013 with devastating effects.
Guns are silent and with the peace, youths are coming together and joining in finding a lasting solution that will keep conflicts, disagreements and divisions at bay.
The youths under the Cultural Trend Network have it at the back of their mind to foster cultural harmonization so that the traditions effectively help cement the country’s unity.
At their festivals, different ethnicities come together and enjoy the diversity of the cultures in the country, Jennifer Jopute, a manager at Cultural Trend Network told The Dawn.
Jopute advised communities to engage in traditional festivals including celebrating the famous harvest seasons, a very popular festival among communities in the past.
According to her, such festivals help to solidify cultural unity and hand them over to generation after generation.
“We need to ensure that our tangible and intangible cultural practices are kept and carried forward,” Jopute said.
“The plan is promotion of local production, promotion of peace building and as well as promoting the cultures,” she said.
“We want to preserve South Sudan culture in all forms-arts, music, food and dressing.”
Food is a mainstay in all their activities because of its unifying factor, Jopute said.
“No one is an enemy to food and using the festival, we talk about local food and we also talk about how we can increase production of local food,” Jopute said.
“We make sure we promote our own food and we integrate the peace building element with traditional dances,” she said.
Taking a global leaf on cultural heritage, China is a role model for preservation and promotion of the country’s traditions.
“Thanks to the country’s protective efforts, traditional Chinese culture today is shining with a new vitality, which is not only increasingly appealing to younger generations domestically but has also been attracting young people from foreign countries,” the Chinese leading media, Xinhua wrote in December 2022.
Also quoting from a statement by the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China on China Daily in December 2021, it said, “Outstanding traditional culture is the root of the heritage and development of a country and a nation. Renouncing it is tantamount to severing our cultural lifeline. We should learn how to best carry forward our fine cultural traditions, and at the same time promote contemporary culture. We should put emphasis on both inheriting and development.”
“This requires us to adhere to the principle of making the past serve the present, weeding through the old to bring forth the new when learning, studying and applying traditional culture,” it said.
In line with that, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged increasing support for the protection of Chinese culture and intangible cultural heritage, including enhancement of research on the history and culture of ethnic groups, thereby inculcating a sense of unity and solidarity,” CGTN also reported in December 2021.
Kakule Joyce, a 27 year old Bari Cultural Dancer said peace and unity can be effectively brought in the country if communities embrace one another’s cultures.
“It’s a matter of action, not just words. We have to make sure our children know our language, dances, food and history and accept them as the roots of our country,” she said.
