South Sudan at Heart

Not everything which glitter is gold By: Abraham Daljang Maker KAMPALA:   I believe that this is an old adage that everyone is familiar with, but have you ever stopped and give a second thought before you take up any decision and weighing the consequences at the same time?   Wait a minute; I am alluding to how people take normal things to be extra-ordinary in our nation, South Sudan.   The recent additional celebration days on the calendar puzzle me and I am pondering why they are so important to others when in actual sense, they are just normal. When the government announced to the whole world that it has finally decided to shut down our oil, it was such great news. As a result, we took to the streets in all the ten states in celebration for having successfully shut down our pipelines. On the contrary, the celebration was short-lived because 98% of our economy depends on oil and this gave birth to a term called “austerity measures.” Consequently, our potb...

Cattle’s raiding is the primitive act that must be shunned  By: Abraham Daljang Maker KAMPALA: It is my duty as a citizen to always point out something which I think is not very good for the progress of the country. One of the things that hurt me every day is cattle’s raiding which is being practiced by the cattle keepers in South Sudan. Cattle keepers in Unity state and Lakes state are leading a cat and a dog relationship daily. It is hard to know who should be blamed because the two are in a constant practice of this vice of cattle rustling. It is high time people realized that the world is advancing with new things, but our fellows in these two places seem to be still behind the clock. There have been series of accusations between the two sister states about cattle raiding, notably between Rumbek center and the neighboring towns of Unity state. Lives have been lost in such incidences where each group takes revenge when there is alleged raid by the other. Howe...

Public speaking scared me almost to death By: Abraham Daljang Maker It was in mid June 2006 at exactly 8:00am when my English teacher called me to his office. Mr. Mazu John who was the head of Literature and English class in the school wanted me to be part of the inter-school debate. “Abraham, we have chosen you to take part in tomorrow’s inter-school debate.” He said.   I lowered my head because I had never appeared in public speaking and I had no idea of how to do it. As he gazed at me to hear my answer, I had a debate in me. Can I go? Can I go...?   I eventually looked up and I saw him still looking at me, I folded my lips and I struggle to hold back the tears. “Okay sir, I will go,” I replied.   “Good boy, you will be the second main speaker, so get ready and by lunch time we shall be on our way.” He said. The motion of the debate was ( advance technology has great advantage in today’s world)    I quickly left his office and ran to a nearby b...

Obstetric fistula ruins women’s lives in South Sudan By: Abraham Daljang Maker KAMPALA: Many women in Lakes State are in pain and socially ostracized because of obstetric fistula but treatment is in short supply.  Underage pregnancies or extended birth can cause obstetric fistula, a condition which blights the lives of many women in South Sudan.  “When a woman's pelvis is small or when a caesarian section is done poorly, it damages the woman’s birth canal,” said Peter Mangar Lual, a nurse in Akot primary health care.   Underage pregnancies and marriages are common in the Dinka culture, which increases the risk of the complication, which can cause a woman to leak urine or faeces, meaning she is socially outcast. In South Sudan girls around six percent of women were married when they were under 15. Almost half of all women are married by the time they turn 18, a United Nation report estimates.  Women are more likely to suffer the condition...