DiAnn Mills

I saved this entry for its own special spot. The meeting with James meant so much to me.
 
On a previous evening, I’d phoned James Solomon Okuk, a Sudanese young man who I have e-mailed since 2002. His life, the tragedies and triumphs, is depicted in Lost Boy No More and When the Lion Roars. We arranged to meet at the Mayfield House from 5:00 to 7:00. I told him he would know me because I’m a short, red-headed woman. He said I would know him because he is a tall, black Sudanese. We laughed - almost all Sudanese are very tall and black. I was so excited! For a long time I’ve thought of James as one of my adopted sons.
 
James is working on his Ph.D in the Philosophy of Politics. Upon completion he has been offered two positions: an ambassador for Sudan and to teach at the University of Juba. His heart is in teaching.

Let me backtrack a little and tell you that James saw his entire family killed during the twenty year long war between northern and southern Sudan. He witnessed horrors too evil for us to imagine. He fled his village when hyenas entered to eat the dead bodies. He went on to be a child soldier and was called “Little Hitler” because of his fearless attitude. James was injured during a firefight and taken to Kenya for treatment. There activists pulled him from the army and placed him in school. He hated it; he wanted to be a soldier. Life slowly changed for James. He became a Christian and continued his education. He is very determined.
 
James sees the dangers ahead for Southern Sudan. During the twenty year war, Sudanese were not being educated. His country needs the “power of knowledge in a time of peace.” He went on to say that the ordinary people are so poor that self-sufficiency is not something they can grasp. Why plant a field for the enemy to kill them while they work? The people are insecure, and too many are ready to obtain money at the expense of other’s lives. Fighting and killing continues. Fear and reluctance walks with them. The enemy says to a poor man, “I will deposit $100,000 in the bank for you. All you need do is take what you want from other people.” As long as that person does as he is told, the enemy hands out $1000 here and there. The people’s hope is in the Southern government. James believes it can be done if everyone works hard and the people are educated properly.
 
Soon a census of the country will take place. The amount of oil-sharing revenues is based on population. James fears the people cannot be found; they’ve fled to other countries from the war or they’ve returned to different areas. Some of the people are working in factories in Khartoum for $50.00 a day and living in slums, but there they are not being hunted down and killed.
 
I asked James what Americans could do to help. He believes Americans cannot help directly. They can give scholarships in which the student must return to Sudan after completing his education. Put pressure on the Northern government to stop oppressing its people and start helping them. The Northern government needs to be held responsible for their own people. The best solution is for the NGO (non-government organizations) to train others at a grass roots level. Another suggestion is for the American to work alongside the commissioners, who in turn train at a grass roots level..
 
James encourages Sudanese abroad to return home to help - teach at a school, help in a health sector, or train others in their expertise. He understands that once a Sudanese lives abroad, he sees and enjoys the good life of western culture. They acquire a lifestyle that is so much better than Sudan, and they don’t want to bring their children into an area that does not have quality education. But their country needs them.
 
“When there is no change in a community, no one leaving to experience the outside world or no one returning from the outside, there will be no change.”
 
I see a hope in James’s eyes that is a mixture of his faith in God and motivation to see Southern Sudan flourish. We arranged to meet again after I return from Juba, Sudan.