juba

a civil war has ravaged southern sudan for the past 20 years and even since independence in 1956 there has been conflict. another sad story of different people groups not liking each other very much. 2005 saw the signing of Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) - a fragile peace agreement between the north and south - which allows a vote to be made in 2011 of whether or not the south wants to secede and form its own country. there is too much at stake for that to ever happen peacefully. anyway, let's focus on today...

juba is located in the south, about 100 klicks from uganda. it sits on the banks of the nile river and was once a major hub for the transport of goods into sudan from neighboring uganda, kenya, and democratic republic of congo. the war changed all of that and set it back with the destruction of roads, buildings, and other major infrastructure, not to mention the societal disruption and mines that now cover the country side.

for updates on juba and sudan: the juba post















as i drive down the road, body randomly swaying at the mercy of the washed out road, mud/stick homes with thatched roofs pass by. a corner shop sells the bare necesities, soap, soft drinks, can goods, cigarettes, and maybe a bottle of johnny walker. goats pick at discarded scraps and chickens run wild in front of the bumper. along one of the roads i drive each day are many mud huts that now occupy people that had fled the surrounding country side during the war. they came into the center of juba for protection, now live in unsanitary slums. since the fragile peace agreement was signed, people are slowly returning to what use to be their homes, if there is even anything left.

everything here is dusty. there is a layer of red dust on everything and there is no way of avoiding it. garbage and discarded plastic water bottles litter the sides of the road and burnt heaps remain as some tried to get rid of the rubbish. there are no garbage trucks, no waste collection, so the trash remains.

there are no boys on the side of the road trying to sell things. there are no souvenirs along the road. the only thing along such lines are a couple guys selling pirated east african music, which they probably spend the entire day sweeping dust off the cd cases. there are a couple markets, and at this point, i've only driven though one. it boast a meager meat department (open air, fly infested, wooden tables with slabs of bleeding meat), fish (also covered with flies), and vegetables (that is probably the largest product...all trucked in from uganda.

the heat gets intense and my energy seeps out of me with the sweat. but from what i'm hearing from folks back in minnesota, i am not complaining.


better pics to follow - these are crappy tourist shots from a moving land cruiser.