Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Ever since I got back from Lui this time, it seems like I am more there than here. Tammy and I are spending a lot of time planning for the May trip, and I have subscribed to a couple of listservs and news feeds that keep South Sudan front and center.

If there is actually anyone reading my blog who is not following the news from South Sudan, you need to know that the news is bad. The Lord's Resistance Army has moved northeast, farther into Sudan, and cut a wide and tragic swath through West Mundri County and the Diocese of Mundri. A number of people were killed or kidnapped, and many more have been displaced. Some were fleeing to Lui Diocese, especially around Lozoh, and Lui Hospital is feeling the effects. Then today we heard that the LRA has entered the Diocese of Lui too, but so far we have heard no details. You can read Bishop Bismarck's story of the attacks in Mundri Diocese here: http://salisburyanglican.org.uk/admin/news-nav.asp?page=890 The map shows the areas where the LRA is active. I copied it from salisburyanglican.org.uk and I thank them for their very current news and helpful images.

This news makes me incredibly sad. Kony and the LRA are beyond brutal, and I can only imagine the terror my Moru friends must feel. Looking at the development in Lui while we were there, I couldn't help thinking how fragile it was, just like the peace, and how the breakdown of the CPA would threaten all the progress the people in South Sudan have made since January of 2005. I was worried about the possible consequences of the 2011 vote. I thought I was being realistic, but it didn't even cross my mind that the LRA, then only barely across the border into Sudan, posed a much more immediate threat.

Right now, losing ground in development looks like nothing next to the threat to human lives. All over the southwestern part of Southern Sudan, at least from Ezo to Lui, people are in danger from the LRA, directly or indirectly. ERD - Episcopal Relief and Development - has already committed to a relief grant that will be administered through SUDRA, an NGO in South Sudan, to help those in the path of the LRA. If you want to help, you can donate online to ERD at https://www.er-d.org/donate-select.php. If you want to help the Diocese of Lui specifically, you can donate via the Diocese of Missouri: http://www.diocesemo.org/donateonline/.