When the Austin truck pulled onto the runway, I realized I was in trouble. I had already seen a similar copy of this truck, which was a well-known donation in South Sudan. The production of Austin stopped in 1952, but the truck still rolls around on vegans in border countries between Sudan and South Sudan. I don’t know what the retirement age is in South Sudan, but it surprises me that a truck that is at least 71 years old is still working. Stuck in the mud in South Sudan? And now Austin rolled out onto the tiny gravel airstrip, the plane I was supposed to take was stuck. The pilot had driven the one landing wheel down into one of the many mud holes that the rainy season brings with it to this corner of South Sudan. The truck Austin had actually come to the airport to pick up several hundred sacks with the logo of Norwegian Church Aid. But now it had suddenly been given an extra mission. The same had about thirty young men, who crowded together to look at the slightly shaky plane that stood with one foot in the mud. Many wanted to help get the plane rolling again. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news Now the plan was for the lorry from the 50s to pull the many-tonne plane, while the men around the plane were to lift one wing. It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but the plan didn’t quite work out as we all hoped, and I felt my fear of flying grow every time the plane shook. The thought crossed my mind. Did I have to stay in this village in South Sudan’s no-man’s land for several nights? The next flight doesn’t leave for two days, and I know that that flight is already booked full of aid workers who want a break from the refugee crisis that is unfolding here. Sacks of emergency aid from the Church’s Emergency Aid are loaded on board a lorry. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news Searching for escape stories Sleeping even more nights in this town, Renk, I saw very darkly. I had already had two nights with minimal sleep. I slept on a floor in a very makeshift office building that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees had rented in the fall and winter when refugees started pouring into South Sudan, from the brutal war that suddenly flared up in Sudan. The light bulb in the room couldn’t be turned off, I don’t know why. And the room functioned as a kind of dormitory that I shared with a group of South Sudanese who were drivers or watchmen for the UN. They probably needed less sleep than I did, because they were lying on their mobile phones and talking to their wives on loudspeakers until late at night, and the next morning they were on their feet again as early as six o’clock. There are several Austin trucks in South Sudan, and they must be refilled with cooling water quite frequently. Like here. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news I was quite tired after three days of a lot of work, and two nights without sleep. But the trip was definitely worth it. Because I had long tried to get a little closer to the war in Sudan. It was about to disappear from the news at home in Norway, and it had become increasingly difficult to find the good stories. Now I had got hold of some of the many millions of refugee stories that exist. My luxury problem and John’s real problem And that’s why I stood there on the airstrip and wanted only one thing: to go back to pleasant, cool and comfortable Nairobi where I would have a weekend visit, go to the applied art market and think as little as possible about the war in Sudan. And as soon as I have thought these thoughts, a well-known battle starts inside my head. A battle between the selfish desire for comfort and the empathic thoughts that force me to put my privileged life into perspective. Because at the same time as I stand and look at an increasingly sweaty pilot who can’t get the plane out of the hole he has driven the plane into, John sits just a few miles away and thinks about everything but applied art markets in Nairobi. Me and John are about the same age. And we are both men. And that’s about where the similarity between me and John stops. John Fiuch, his wife Mer, and their four children fled the war in Sudan. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news He is the father of four, and has a wife who is tired after she recently gave birth to their last child. For John, there is hardly any way forward from Renk. He has fled his life as a construction worker and managed to get his family across the border from Sudan to South Sudan. The journey was dangerous, with bombs and soldiers who took all the savings of the poor family. But they made it safely to South Sudan, which is John’s homeland. He fled to Sudan in 2016. Now he is fleeing yet another war, and back again to South Sudan, where at least there is no war right now. The river is the only way out But even if John’s family is safe, life is terrible. In the refugee camp, there is barely enough space under one of the plastic sheets. It’s oppressively hot, and flies are buzzing around everywhere. And in addition, the family of four must sleep on a concrete floor. I was allowed to follow John and his family on the day they got safely out of Sudan and arrived at the refugee camp in the far north of South Sudan. It was clear that John was both relieved and distressed at the same time when he got to see where the family was going to sleep. Staying in the refugee camp was undoubtedly a bad option. John Fiuch and his wife Mer constantly have to lift the two youngest who are tired after several days on the run. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news At the same time, it was in many ways the best option they had. The only way forward was to put the whole family on a boat going up the Nile. The rainy season had destroyed the roads for some time to come, and plane tickets could only be obtained by those who had both money and contacts in the UN. So for John and his family, the Nile was the only alternative. And the journey to the nearest town would take a full two days, without particularly food, drink or shade. With four small children and a nursing wife. One of the evenings in South Sudan I was down by the banks of the Nile and met some of those who set out on this boat trip. The boats were packed with people without life jackets or swimming skills. People took overcrowded boats, because it was the only way forward fleeing towards a safe everyday life. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news Getting into such a boat is madness, many Norwegians would think. But that’s because I’ve never been in the situation John and millions of others are in right now. Because it is not possible to make good choices if you have to flee from Sudan to South Sudan. There are only bad choices, and less bad choices. With a view to the Nile Korleis, things went on with John, you may be wondering? I do not know. I had a flight to catch and left him and his family as they had been given a mat to sleep on in the refugee camp. But I thought a lot about John and the family when I sat in the air, and watched the Nile wind its way through South Sudan’s toad-flat landscape. Down there somewhere, the people I had met along the riverbank in Renk were still sitting close together in large boats. The Niger winds its way through the whole of South Sudan and is an important transport route in a part of the world with a lot of traffic and few good roads. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news The plane had got out of the mud hole. It took a few hours. A newer truck, and a more solid tow rope, did the trick. Once again, I was the lucky one who could travel on in life, away from poor sleep, heat, and a refugee camp full of mud and mud. The country I looked down on from the tiny plane is the world’s least developed country, and is in no way ready to receive thousands of refugees. But this is how it has turned out. I have mixed feelings sitting there on the plane. In any case, the conclusion is that my most important contribution is to tell about John to my compatriots back home in Norway. I don’t know if it will make a difference. But it is always permissible to hope for an improvement. I know John does. Hey Hey! You are welcome to follow my Facebook page if you want some reminders about Africa issues that news produces. If you are curious about what actually lies behind the conflict in Sudan, you can listen to the Oppdatert podcast’s episode about why the conflict exploded in April.
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Muddy luxury problem in South Sudan – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
