South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The throng to Lobonok in Central Equatoria State by a group of youths was a colorful sight, sweet to digest and a beautiful glimpse of the future of peace and unity that South Sudan wishes to achieve.
The group, from across the country, convened at the Lobonok Payam between October 4 and 6 reveling in traditional dances, contemporary music, different games and discussions.
Centered on peace building, the program, organized periodically by the “I am Peace” organization aims at fostering dialogue, unity and peaceful coexistence among the different communities, especially their youths across South Sudan.
Dubbed the Peace Camp, such gathering has brought together over 10,000 youths since its first inception in 2019 under a simple accord-peace and unity in South Sudan.
In Lobonok, it attracted 50 youths.
“They come with a mindset to connect regardless of their affiliations,” Sambro Lupai, the Executive Director of I am Peace said in an interview.
The camp exposes the young people to intercultural learning which many of them use to embrace diversity in their communities, organizations and families.
Tribal affiliated mindsets have been a challenge to unity of South Sudanese, noted Lupai who pointed out that when convening the peace camps, most participants first “come in tribes instead of coming as youths.”
“So our role is to ensure that we break it,” he said.
South Sudan has struggled through decades of recurring civil wars majorly causing total disconnection among the people. Fragmentations at community and tribal lines has wide gaps and people tend to associate more in their ethnic units.
Mutual respect between ethnicities
Unity is currently at the forefront of programs which aim to foster sustainable peace and development in South Sudan.
China has been a unified multi-ethnic country for more than 2000 years, and the depiction of ‘the pluralistic unity of the Chinese nation’ encapsulates so well that South Sudan can keenly follow.
Looking at the multicultural Qinghai, we see that different ethnic groups willingly borrow from each other’s culture, which is already a commendable instance of “accepting the beauty of other people,” Dorjie Banban notes in his writing, Harmony in diversity: an empirical study of harmonious co-existence in the multi-ethnic culture of Qinghai.
“The experience of Qinghai shows that respect and equality are the fundamental principles for maintaining friendly relationships between cultures. In Qinghai we find several examples of respect towards other cultures,” he said, adding that “the respect demonstrated for the others by each ethnic group in Qinghai is very praiseworthy.”
The Peace Camp of I AM PEACE was initiated in Adjumani in neighboring Uganda in 2017 with the aim of engaging young people devastated by conflict, in dialogue and peace building.
Now, it allows young people and youth organizations from mostly conflict wrecked states and the capital Juba as well to engage in dialogue and conflict transformation activities.
From across the country, the youths come together to connect, bond, learn, explore, and direct positive narratives of the country.
The camp is characterized by games majorly board games, volleyball, football, live music performances, dance and drama,
The youths also engage in discussions on different issues affecting society including tribal based hatred, unemployment, early and forced marriages, gender based violence, arts and many other relevant topics.
Such discussions are geared towards transforming the youths who standout to be potential agents of peace and societal stability.
It creates a peaceful environment for them to interact on social, economic and political issues and promote sustainable development.
“Every time young people hear about Peace Camp, they always want to be part of it because that is where they decide to share all their affiliations and become part of the youth population of South Sudan,” Lupai said.
“So the Peace Camp specifically is just a platform for building relationships where people talk about peace through different platforms,” he said.
The first Peace Camp to be held in Juba was in June 2019 at the Whitaker Community Center, an international peace organization that empowers cohorts of peacemakers and entrepreneurs among South Sudan’s dynamic youth.
More than 35 Peace Camp events both in Uganda and South Sudan with an average of 60 people in attendance per event have been held.
It brings on board different organizations that build capacities of young people in different fields including first aid, CV writing, Job ethics, and public speaking.
Daniel Majak Kuany, a former volunteer communication manager of I AM PEACE said the platform helped him get connected.
”I was recruited as a volunteer communication manager, and I had the pleasure to work with I Am Peace for a duration of more than three months,” Majak, now the Secretary General of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan said.
“Within the time I had been serving as a volunteer communication manager, the position helped me to gain connections and networks,” he said.
According to Lupai, agriculture is one aspect that is avidly embraced by the Peace Camp programs.
“We talked about how we can use agriculture to bring peace because that is one of the things that a lot of young people do,” he said.
“Once their efforts get into it, they will be able to earn a living, they will be able to build the economy.”
