wau town

images from around town. the only paved road connects the airport to the governors office and his house. the rest is a pot hole ridden, red dirt (maram) surface. goats and cows share the road, as do single stroke tuk tuks, horse draw carts and bicycles. two intersections now have signals - that is more than juba, and they are functioning - well the lights change, but are for the most part ignored. the first couple days there were about half the police force hanging out at the intersections - probably waiting for those who ignore the signals...but i'm not sure anyone even know what red or green mean. wau is much more organized than juba - traffic lights, it's very clean in comparison, crime is low, there isn't that palpable sense that violence is a hair pin trigger away from erupting, people are extremely friendly and (for the most part) honest.
although there are three different tribes that fought on opposing sides during the war, they live together today. i'm sure the history is not entirely forgotten, but you don't have a sense that violence is only a small spark away. the majority of people here grow some sort of crops...to the west and on, but there are also the dinka who have the cows. but i'm guessing that will the abundance of land out here and few people, there is enough space for people to get along. as long as the farmer is not growing crops where the cows need to graze, things remain calm. when the existence of green grass or grazing land become scarce, the fierce cattle herders clash with the farmers. i would venture to guess this is one of the main reasons for the conflicts in the south and darfur for that matter. land that was once free to roam and let the cattle graze has suddenly become segregated - there are boundaries and boarders where a herder use to be free to go as he pleased. now the threat to his survival, to his livelihood, to his income is great and he won't stand by. this isn't an new concept or story - take the cane and able story and it suddenly makes sense. the conflict and struggle between those who plow the ground and those who raise the livestock. the endless struggle for land and the resources that are in or on it.
what you see on a small scale in a country between a herding tribe and a farming tribe, you have on a much larger scale regarding other resources, oil, minerals, etc. another sort of conflict, but still a flight over resources. a fight between one tribe or nation and another. with our population growing and the middle class populations wanting to live an affluent life as exhibited in the west, the world is quickly reaching a state (or maybe has reached) where it can't sustain the consumerism and greed. there is not enough for everyone to live in luxury. either there is sacrifice or war to ensure our side gets what we want. who wants to sacrifice?