Thank you, dear Friends!

Dear Friends, How are you doing over there? I am so glad to have the opportunity that you have offered for me to pursue my Education career in the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi-Kenya. My greatest appreciation goes to the Almighty God for making my uncle Bishop Francis Loyo who has been more of a father to me from my child hood and grew up with him when i lost my father. He met Jenny and her Provincial members at the lambent conference and presented the need to support me and other people that need support in South Sudan. I highly appreciate your financial, spiritual and moral support towards my education when i was away from home. You have been everything to me and am so proud of you all for the kind heart that you have been given to support Gods people and those in need like me. I have come to the end of my Degree programme with my University though i have some incomplete units that i had missing marks, I had to do a unit as a supplementary due to loss of missing units and that is my greatest worry since the exams was a bit tight but if everything goes well I will graduate on October. This is not the end of my education career i am willing to continue further with my MASTERS programme in future when i get an opportunity or through self-support when i get a Job. I have acquired a lot from my education and have a big dream for our people in South Sudan am going to extend my support spiritually, socially or through projects that am planning to come up with after some times with my people in South Sudan. There are many needy people at home who have the ambition but lack support to achieve. You have not only supported me but our people at large we are the future of our people.  I appreciate everything you have done for me we shall continue shall always be friends in Christ, share ideas and support each other when the need arises. God bless you all and grant you with more than what you have done for Gods people. Thank you. With love Mike

Mike volunteering in Diocese school

Dear Jenny,

Am so glad to hear from you, I know the recent Job you got has really kept
you guite for some time but never mind i understand that.

I will send your regards to my people a they will be so happy to hear hard. you have done alot and help them too.
yes there is a slight improvement in south sudan interms of exposure to education and health staff though there is still a lot pending for us to complete the knowldge i have acquired will be of a great advantage to our people,I can volunteer as a teacher in the Diocese school before i get a job and as i look for a job.
I hope things inprove back home soon
Thanks with love

Mike 

Dear Jenny, How are you doing? I have finally defended my project and planning to go to South Sudan I will be coming early October to cross check my units that was incomplete so that i can be assured of the Graduation that will take place during this October period. I am really grateful fro the support and everything you have done for me may God bless you all accept an appreciation from me and on my relatives behalf for the effort you have done. I will keep in touch with you when i get there and return back. with love Mike

A new term

How are you doing over there in this winter?
I am doing fine and started my lectures fully from last week. I was at CMS office the money sent that is the sum of 1,108 pound has reflected in the account and i have paid my fees and some for the expenses.
I appreciate the effort you have done towards raising the money in this short period i am so grateful thank you so much and all my sponsors who have been supporting me spiritually and financially.
Thank you and God bless you.

with love Mike

Easter greeings

Dear Jenny, Happy Easter to you all. What are the preparations for the Easter over there? Last time you told me the Donkey was ill and there was a problem in the procession and celebration.  We pray for a happy Easter to you all. We are due an Easter break too for the celebration over here in Nairobi, I am getting better and can sit on a chair for some time, It was the same haemorrhoids that I was operated on for before, so Ii hope and hope they won't trouble me again. Thank you for the fund sent for the treatment i hope you got my mail and attached receipts that I sent. God bless you all. I am preparing for exams on a few units since our timetable is out and we are to start next week.  I pray all goes well on your side and my side so that I can complete successfully. I understand is is not easy to raise funds for the remaining trimester or semester that you are preparing for. I will wait patiently for all that you have planned for me ahead. Below is a summary  of my budget for the units and expenses in the next trimester. In case of hardship in raising funds you can send little by little. I will appreciate.  Thank you, THANK YOU,  with Love Mike BUDGET FOR THE REMAINING TRIMESTER Tuition fee (4 units @ 13500 each)                  54,000  (£416) Monthly Expenses. Rent and bills(8000+1000)                            9,000 Transport (120 daily)                                    3,360 Books and stationary                                   2,500 Feeding(lunch and super)                             10,000 House shopping equipments                         4,000 Shopping and Dressing                                4,000 TOTAL                                                      32,860 (£253) x 6 =                                                                   £1518 Total cost £1934

After surgery

Dear Jenny..just woke up after going through the surgery and had a deep rest. it's the pain that am going through now but pray it will end soon as i take my drugs. will get some time and write to you a mail when i get better. thank you for the care and concern God bless you.

Diagnosis

i just had a check up with the doctor and he told mi the swelling is due to the hair purse within the operated region which led to accumulation of purse hence there is a chance of it increasing if not delt with so soon. he said it needs a minor surgery as a solution am just so scared after goin thro all that again. he said its not an expensive surgery only 20,000ksh which i can get from my savings. my greatest worry is that i have missed lectures for a week and am going to miss again for another one week i really dont know what to do. always praying for miracle to happen.

Please pray for healing

• Hello Jenny, how are you doing? Long time not heard from you. I have been down for almost a week after having complications in the area that was operated i have not been going to school as i take treatment from the house that's why I couldn't go and send a mail due to the deep pain please accept this i pray i gt better so that i can send you a mail and go to school. Hi to my friends over there. with love Mike
  
  
  Mike really can't afford to be ill in this, his last semester.  He has a project and exams to complete.  The operation he refers to was for haemorrhoids.  Poor chap! - JG

Sudanese Association

This is Mike with his fellow members of the committee of the Uni's Sudanese Association

Tee final academic requirements!

How are doing over there? hope everything is better and busy with work and the duties.
It's CATS week i started yesterday and will be completing this week then work on the remaining assignment that is pending. so far fairly done and hope to finish them next week.

I have paid my fees and registered for the semester 
(attached). every blessing to you hi to my friends over there

With love Mike

Mike's final year at Uni

Warmly Christian greetings from Kenya, how are you doing over there?
I am doing fine and proceeding well with my studies though it has become much tougher than before. 
I have finally received the money that you had sent before Christmas. I have paid my fees and my bills and will send you the receipt next time when i come with it. It had been delayed but i waited for it patiently. The office of CMS has always been there  to help me out when i need to get some money on loan, since they understand the situation over here.

It has been a stressing week. When i went for my progressive transcript from first year up to fourth(4) year, I found out three(3) missing units. (I will send it to you  soon). I have been following them up with the lecturers so that it doesn't affect me. My project is going well  though sometimes my Supervisor doesn't meet me since he is always busy doing other things.
hi to my friends over there and the family members

With love Mike 

STATEMENT BY SUDAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

ON

THE CURRENT SITUATION IN JONGLEI STATE

18TH JANUARY 2012

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

The Church has a mandate from Jesus Christ to bring his peace to the world. It is indeed not “as the world gives”. Peace as the Church understands it is not simply the absence of fighting, nor is it an uneasy short-term truce while the underlying issues remain unresolved. Peace is not maintained by military force, although all of these may provide a window of opportunity to pursue true peace. Peace, true peace, the “my peace” of Jesus Christ, is based on the dignity and equality of every human person made in the image and likeness of God, and includes love, forgiveness, reconciliation and justice.

The Church expresses its deep sorrow and regret that violence has broken out in South Sudan so soon after Independence. Our thoughts, prayers and sympathy are with all the affected individuals, families and communities. As a nation we need to rediscover and reclaim the peace and unity which was felt so strongly during the period of the Referendum and Independence celebrations, and which was an example to the whole world.

In fulfilment of Christ's mandate, and at the request of the Government of South Sudan, the Sudan Council of Churches spearheaded a peace initiative between the Lou Nuer and Murle communities, also involving other communities in Jonglei State, for several months. This included visits to the communities by Church and political leaders for fact-finding and mobilisation, concurrent but separate conferences for each of the two communities, production of situation analyses and selection of mobilisers/negotiators at those meetings, and training of the mobilisers/negotiators. It was to have led to a joint conference in mid-December 2011, but the situation on the ground and the advice of the political leadership resulted in the postponement of the conference. Tragically, serious fighting then broke out around Christmas, which ought to be a holy season of peace and love. Many lives were lost, atrocities were committed, a humanitarian disaster was caused, and regrettably a new cycle of revenge and retaliation began.

SCC would like to highlight some of the factors which contributed to the recent fresh outbreak of violence.

• The Murle community is perceived by most of the other communities in Jonglei State as being a perpetrator of constant raids. Even during the peace process there were reports of raids by Murle. There have already been retaliatory attacks on the Lou by Murle, as well as a reported escalation of the conflict by attacks on the Dinka.
• The Lou Nuer youth apparently feel that they are justified in defending their community against Murle attacks, in the absence of Government protection and action, but using armed force is clearly not the way to do this, particularly in the middle of an ongoing peace process.
• While commending the Government of South Sudan and UNMISS for the eventual rapid deployment of forces, without which the human tragedy might have been even greater, nevertheless it has to be said that the deployment of SPLA was too little and too late. It is the responsibility of the Government to provide security to all communities of South Sudan to avoid citizens taking the law into their own hands.
• The political leadership of both communities proved to be out of touch with their people, particularly the armed youth, and were unable significantly to influence events on the ground, nor even to provide accurate information about the situation.
• Local Church leaders on the ground also appeared unable to influence events. The SCC peace process aimed to prevent immediate violence and was thus, in a way, dealing with the symptoms rather than the root causes.
• The challenge of engaging with the armed youth was keenly felt. There is a clear disconnect between the youth and both the traditional and political leaders. The tradition of youth respecting and listening to their elders has been lost. Without the youth's involvement, and their sense of ownership of the peace process, any attempt at peace will fail.
• The conflict has moved far beyond cattle-raiding, abductions and revenge. The Lou Nuer expressed a deep-rooted hatred of the Murle. Brutal actions were carried out against non-combatants. Ethnic hatred was expressed verbally, in graffiti left by the attackers, and on the internet, and this could be the precursor to larger-scale atrocities. This dynamic has been growing for some time and is very worrying. It lends a sense of urgency to peace efforts.
• Extremely young children are being “initiated” into the hatred and killing, ensuring that it will continue into the next generation.
• The two communities have moved away from traditional cattle-raiding practices and are using more sophisticated and destructive military tactics, with modern weapons and good organisation,  training, intelligence and communications.
• Other communities in Jonglei State can and have played either a positive or a negative role in the resolution of conflict, and are beginning to be drawn in to the conflict. 
• Rumours, incitement and inaccurate and unsubstantiated information have contributed to the conflict. Through the internet, the Diaspora have played a role.
• Right across South Sudan people are traumatised as a result of five decades of war. The current conflict is, in part, the result of trauma. Communities are still using the same self-defence mechanisms which they used during the war, when there was no government and no security, even though these are now inappropriate in the new dispensation of peace and nation-building.

The peace process has not failed, because peace cannot be allowed to fail. The process will continue. SCC anticipates that there will now be two tracks.

The first track will be spearheaded by the Government and political leadership and will be a higher-level process. It will include the provision of security, humanitarian relief to affected communities and support to addressing major long-standing development challenges such as provision of roads to ensure the overall strategy is a success, all as a means to allow a window of opportunity for the peace process.

The second track will be spearheaded by the Church and will be a grassroots peace process, using lessons learned from the People to People Peace Process (Wunlit), and from Church-led initiatives in other pastoralist conflicts in East Africa, as well as reflection on the current situation. In particular it will try to involve the armed youth, who are a force in their own right, not under the control of either traditional or modern leadership structures. SCC will identify, train, equip and support key individuals from within the communities (and particularly from within the youth) who will act as peace mobilisers. The network formed by these individuals, not only amongst the Lou Nuer and Murle but also other communities in Jonglei State, will form the basis for future peace processes. It is a model which can later be extended to other states.

The Church will seek to liaise and collaborate with the high-level track, while devoting its own efforts to the grassroots track.

The Church therefore commits itself to a long and severe peace process which does not focus primarily on “fire-fighting”, of dealing with the short-term symptoms of conflict, but rather on the long-term changing of attitudes and value systems which will eventually lead to a generation free of armed conflict. This change from a culture of violence to a culture of peace will involve trauma healing, as well as dealing with the roots of the conflicts between communities.

There have been many peace processes, conferences, meetings, etc in Jonglei State in the past, and many recommendations have come from the various communities, but few of these recommendations have actually been implemented. In particular, it is clear that under-development is a key driver of conflict in the area, and this is exacerbated by a perception that some communities are neglected. Development of the more isolated parts of Jonglei State must become a priority for Government (eg roads), the business community (eg mobile phone networks) and the aid community.

The Church, speaking in its Prophetic role, makes the following urgent appeals:

To all the communities in Jonglei State:

• To cease immediately all armed conflicts, whatever the perceived provocation, and to allow disputes to be resolved by peaceful means.
• To cooperate with the Government, UN and Church to return abductees and cattle.
• To step back from ethnic hatred.
• For the armed youth and its leaders to engage seriously with the Church peace process.
• For the youth and traditional leadership to reconnect, and to re-establish traditional relationships and values for resolving issues.
• Immediately to stop initiating children into the cycle of hatred.

To the Governments of South Sudan and of Jonglei State:

• To provide adequate security to protect all citizens and communities in Jonglei State.
• To initiate a high level peace process including traditional and political leaders.
• To support all communities affected by conflict with humanitarian assistance equitably and without bias.
• To liaise and collaborate with the Church grassroots peace initiative.
• To provide public works (particularly roads) and to encourage development in Jonglei State.
• To handle disarmament issues sensitively and comprehensively, in a manner and at a time which will promote peace rather than exacerbate conflict, and provide adequate security for those communities which are disarmed.
• To implement a system of law and order in which there is accountability and justice for all.

To the UN, particularly UNMISS:

• To continue to deploy armed peace-keepers in Jonglei State in numbers sufficient to exercise their Chapter VII responsibility to protect civilians.
• To continue to monitor the situation and provide information in a timely fashion to all stakeholders.
• To continue to support the Government in its responsibility to protect its citizens.
• To continue to support the SCC in its peace process, including logistics.
• To provide humanitarian relief and development in Jonglei State.

To the NGOS and donors:

• To continue to support the SCC peace process.
• To provide immediate humanitarian relief in the aftermath of the recent fighting.
• To provide development assistance in Jonglei State in a manner which is perceived by all communities to be equitable, and which does not exacerbate underlying tensions by appearing to favour one community over others.

To the business community:

• To enhance communications in Jonglei State by extending the mobile phone networks to all key centres of population.

To the Diaspora:

• To cease encouraging and supporting violent solutions to perceived problems in South Sudan; rather to enlighten your home communities with the values of law and order which you find in your adopted homes in USA, Canada and elsewhere.
• To refrain from using the armed youth in Jonglei State for political advantage.

To all citizens of the Republic of South Sudan:

• Seek and pray for a lasting solution to the conflict and press all actors to contribute to this.
• Rumours should not be taken at face value until objective investigations are conducted for each incident. All citizens must be critical of what they hear and read and also measure what they say, as each word can help build or destroy the peace.
• South Sudanese must accept accountability for acts they have committed which violate the rights of others and the laws of the nation.  Justice rather than impunity must be a foundation for the future.

Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

Juba, 18^th January 2012