Sudan: A Mother Mourns - A Tragically Common Story of Life in Southern Sudan, Page 2

June 2002

Articles in this issue:  Southern Sudan, Page 1 | Sudan, Page 2 | Sudan, Page 3 | Sudan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, Page 4

“And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like noonday.” Isaiah 58:10

A Mother Mourns: A Tragically Common Story of Life in Southern Sudan

Abuk

The woman looks through the scrub bushes for leaves she can pick. These leaves will be the only food she can prepare for her family's meal that day. Seemingly out of nowhere comes the sound she has heard only once before. Instantly, absolute terror overtakes her. She begins to run back in the direction of her makeshift home. All at once she hears the explosions. Immediately the smoke rises as a black column against the cloudless sky. From past experience she knows exactly what this can only mean.

The woman's name is Abuk (changed for security precautions). She is a wife and was the mother of a 2-year-old baby girl. Unlike so many children in southern Sudan, Abuk's baby had been healthy...

This is the account of one family's tragic day in Sudan....

The sun breaks over the horizon bringing with it a new day. In a small village in southern Sudan it begins as so many other days have. However, in another part of southern Sudan the day begins for someone else who intends to turn this day into a living nightmare for innocent people.

A flight officer awakens in the early hours. Today, as with other past days, he will bring destruction and terror to innocent people. He prepares gathering maps and other information he needs in order to carry out his orders. His thoughts are running contrary to his conscience. He knows what he is doing is wrong, dead wrong, but that does not stop him. He reasons these people are black, inferior to us. They stand in the way of progress for Islam and for his country. Sudan needs the oil that lies under the ground in this part of the country. He also reasons his country's only hope is to get the oil and sell it. How else can Sudan and Islam survive? There is no other way to finance the spread of Islam to the rest of Africa.

It has been two hours since Abuk began her day shortly after daybreak. This time of year the day heats up rapidly. In another few hours the temperature will exceed the 110-degree mark. Since it is the middle of the dry season there will be no clouds to break the heat. Abuk's husband left over an hour ago to search for a spot in the dried up riverbed where he might find water for his family. Abuk and her family have only been in this area for a short time. Their previous home was attacked and burned by troops from the Gov. of Sudan (GOS). They are still worried about neighbors and other family members they haven't seen since that horrible day. They feel secure in this area because a large Sudanese People Liberation Army (SPLA) garrison is only 9 miles away.

After eating his breakfast and having several cups of coffee, the flight officer reviews once again his orders along with ground coordinates and the latest weather forecast. He learns that the area assigned to him today is very flat and featureless. Small groups of trees spread out over a large area will offer him the only cover he will have. He is relieved to read there are no enemy positions (SPLA) close enough to the target area to cause him any concern. He learns that a group of people who were chased from their former area have settled here and actually built new huts. As he gathers his supplies he is thinking about what he might do this afternoon. Today's assignment, he tells his superiors, on his way out the door, will only take a few minutes. After he is done he has nothing else for the balance of the day.

Abuk made arrangements with a woman who lives nearby to watch her baby. The woman agrees to come to their home so the baby can sleep. Abuk in return offers to share whatever food she can find. The woman is old and this is much easier for her.

As the flight officer gets into his helicopter gunship, he checks all the controls and flips the switch that starts the turbines, which in turn start the rotors revolving. He checks his weapons systems and all is OK. After jotting down some notes on his clipboard he puts on his helmet, checks the microphone, and fires his engines to lift-off speed.

With Abuk out looking for the day's food and her husband trying to get water for the family, the old woman lays the baby down inside the grass hut. The old woman is alone now. She lost her husband several years ago in one of the GOS's attacks on her village. Her children are also gone. She sits thinking about how blessed this family is to still have each other.

(Click here for more information on Sudan.)

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POSTED:  July 1, 2002

June 2002

Articles in this issue:  Southern Sudan, Page 1 | Sudan, Page 2 | Sudan, Page 3 | Sudan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, Page 4