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South Sudan Independence attained in July last year was the result of the struggle through rebellion. The latest country in the world is still keeping its history in a tent.
Camp is situated in an old chocolate on the street in the grounds of administrative center in Juba. However, its existence is not noticed by most drivers and pedestrians through the area. arising from the formation of musty smell in the tent were pretty whacked. Stored there, papers, files, books and various images, which is partly a termite colony. However, the collection of paper of no value in the eyes of the general store most of the new country’s history memory in the world to cross the White Nile and the Sudd swamps.All documents appear scattered on the concrete floor and table, and partly out of sackcloth.
The documents in the tent was a record -record in existence since early 1900 when the Sudan and the south in corporate Britain and Egypt.
confining papers under canvas for a few years since the North-South peace agreement in 2005 that survived the fire, war and weather.
It will be the core of the Archives of South Sudan when the documents are saved. Apparently, it will be located in new buildings promised by Norway as the country’s independence gift.
Senior Inspector of Museums and Monuments, Ministry of Culture and Heritage, South Sudan, Onyalla Fulgensio Youssef, 48, told, there will be no one country without a history.Onyalla to ‘catch up’ time and termites to protect and preserve the archives.
“Thanks be to God for giving us the opportunity to turn this archive,” said the holder of a degree in archeology at the Lebanese-American University in Beirut, Lebanon before returning to his native land.
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The National Archives is part of the project options which are still at an early stage. To complete the establishment of cultural heritage institutions such as the National Museum, National Library, Cultural Centre and National Theatre. It may be impossible with the birth of a new African country that has more than eight million people, despite having oil resources in the less developed . At the same time, more than 70 percent of its population illiterate.
“You can not strengthen a country without strengthening the minds and hearts of the people,” said Under Secretary of Culture, Madut Jok Jok, who is a most respected intellectuals the country.To build a national consciousness in Southern Sudan, there is a small challenge that must be taken as ethnic hostility as race of cattle, water and grazing rights. It is exacerbated by the civil war that trigger and blow up the bloodshed.
“It will take a generation to recover, the country was not born, but it is formed,” said Jok who has a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).higher patriotism can be seen among the people in Juba. Independence we have achieved is the result of the struggle for independence since 1963. However, there is a price to be paid. For the independence, more than two million people died.
“The challenge is to change the race of a nation and not a citizen of the ethnic groups. Most people are loyal to their ethnic group,” said Jok. Juba met with Kenya, Uganda and people from neighboring countries but mostly locals.When asked to come from where, they say proudly: “I am from South Sudan”. However many will endure difficulty in singing the national anthem in English new.
Each speech must be inserted with the story of bloody war fighters who were killed and a portrait of bearded man, the hero of independence, Dr. John Garang. He is a Dinka warrior who is also the founder of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). His face is plastered on the walls in most government offices.
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His face also adorns notes that the new South Sudan.
“What unites South Sudan is the independence they have, but what happened before will still come back after this,” said Culture Program Specialist, Elke Selter who served with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation of the United Nations (UNESCO) in South Sudan.
One Khaled, the Head of UNESCO Office believes that South Sudan, by tapping into a cultural tradition such as funerals and weddings as well as oral history is one way to find common features and customs among people of different races in a country.
“We need to find common ground between them,” said Khaled. As one way to create a collective identity, Jok has developed a traveling exhibit idea of cultural artifacts such as cooking , farm equipment, weapons and musical instruments.
historical records
“It is like an embryo in a museum in the country. you put all things together and say, ‘this equipment they use to’. From there people will not only see the similarities but also diversity, “said Jok.
Despite the scorching heat can affect the camp archives, cursory examination shows the wealth historical record there as a potential gold mine for reference historians, researchers, students and tourists.
A large number of documents in the camp was based on the 1970′s which is administered by the South Sudan High Executive Council during the reign of President Jaafar Nimeiri in Khartoum.
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Nimeiri a dusty portrait painting propped on a table in the middle of the tent.
official photos black and white that faded luster shows visits of royalty including the late Emperor of Abyssinia, Haile Selassie and Princess of Britain, Princess Anne.
Despite the accumulation of various documents, there are a number of sensitive documents. Documents are files that store information on military operations in southern Sudan during the civil war for many years, maps and brochures on oil and mineral deposits. All evidence of continuing importance in the dispute between South and North Sudan on the border and higher authority to administer the oil.
One-third of these archives have been transferred through initiatives supported by Norway and the U.S.. The U.S. Embassy provided funds for the supply of cardboard archive file and an electronic scanner to allow the copying of documents. However, there is an urgent need to get more money. However, the situation becomes difficult when the aid budget is reduced and the South Sudan government to issue money to finance infrastructure, health, education and defense.Related posts: