The softer side of Sudan

Sudan has a softer side. When its people are not toting AKs, firing rockets, placing landmines, burning down houses and bickering over resources a softer side emerges. It is taking some time, but slowly I am learning to embrace this softer side, throwing aside my harsher realities of the west, for the joys of endless black cotton mud or scorching, dry heat, malaria, typhoid, amoebas and (my favorite) giardia. I am still looking for the softer side of giardia – and the meds for it – but it is currently taking some serious mental conniving to convince my stomach that World War III has not started in my bowels…but hey, it really is the softer side when you consider the possibilities.
On a more serious note (not that I don’t take my stomach seriously) Sudan really does have a softer side. It is seen in the everyday man and woman’s desire for peace to last. S. Sudan recently celebrated the three year anniversary for the signing of the CPA(comprehensive peace agreement). Here, in town, there was a huge celebration to mark the occasion. The governor and many dignitaries came to town to give speeches, watch the parade, and ensure that some of the final stages of the peace agreement are carried out.
We were invited to the event and it was exciting to see the whole town out in mass to celebrate the peace that has come to mean so much to them. They were also there to watch the military march through town in all its pomp, but I prefer to look on the bright side, which is that peace has brought great changes to this part of the country and the everyday people have a lot at stake. The softer side of Sudan lies in children who want to go to school, mothers who want medicine for their sick children, and fathers who want to raise families on the soil of their fathers, not in refugee camps. It is also seen in celebration, which the Sudanese know how to do quite well. I hope you enjoy the snaps.