Special South Sudan section in the Ugandan paper
Uganda just got a new neighbor along its northern border – at least in terms of name. Just a few days after America celebrated its 235th birthday, South Sudan became the newest nation on the planet on 7/9/2011. Sudan, which was the largest country on the African continent, officially broke into two parts. The long-oppressed, historically black Christian south became independent from the largely Arab Muslim north. We were contemplating heading to Juba, the capital city of the new nation, for independence day celebrations but there were a few too many question marks for us to take the 15 hour bus ride northwards. Instead, Jacob and I watched the jubilation live from home on Al-Jazeera, which was still pretty exciting. Ugandans consider the South Sudanese as brothers. The languages and tribes of South Sudan extend to the Ugandan side of the border, as well. Hundreds of thousands of Ugandans do business there, especially in Juba, so it made sense that Ugandans were just as excited about the official secession.
#9 Luol Deng (bottom left), a native of South Sudan, warming up at a Bulls game I went to in April
One of my favorite Chicago Bulls players, Luol Deng, was born in South Sudan and is amember of its largest tribe, the Dinka. Like many others, he fled the region with his family as a refugee during a civil war which plagued the country for the last 3 decades. In January of this year, South Sudan had its referendum vote on whether or not it should remain a part of Sudan. Luol was instrumental in getting the vote out in South Sudanese diaspora communities, including Chicago, which served as one of the eight official American voting centers. The January results showed that 99% voted in favor of independence, which was made official on July ninth. Luol returned for the historic event and even ran a basketball camp for Juba youth while he was there. However, it’s not all a rosy picture. The nation has some of the lowest human development indicators on the continent, and there are still security threats from the North and disputes regarding control of oil. When Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia in the 90s, it was only a matter of a few years before a border dispute led to a deadly war, so anything can happen. Omar Bashir, the president of Sudan, wished South Sudan prosperity and stability, which is a start. It’s too early to say what direction the nation will go just 2 weeks after independence, but let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best.
