Celebrating Christmas in South Sudan

No matter where one is in the Christian parts of the world, Christmas is a special time for families to get together, a time to set aside any disagreements and to celebrate the sharing of life together.

I have often reflected on the story of Christmas eve at Ypres in Belgium in 1914. German troops on one side, and British soldiers entrenched on the other, began singing Silent Night in their own languages. Eventually, soldiers emerged from their trenches and met in "no man's land", setting up a Christmas tree and exchanging gifts such as cigars, jam and whisky. No shots were fired. This was a moment of Christmas peace when the human spirit rose above the conflict that engulfed them. Alfred Anderson, last survivor of the original Christmas Truce, died in 2005, aged 109. The truce has been depicted in three movies: Richard Attenborough's "Oh What a Lovely War" (1969), "Snoopy & The Red Baron" (1999) and "Joyeux Noel"  (2005).

We hope and pray for something similar in South Sudan. Peace in the hearts of individuals can rise above the hideous conflicts in which they are embroiled. People of different nationalities, or coming from different ethnic groups, may have some differences but they have far more in common. There is a longing for peace among the South Sudanese people. We pray for leadership that will enable peace among the people rather than continue the futile fighting occurring in parts of South Sudan. The photos I am attaching, all taken by Paul Jeffrey, show people in situations that test endurance and resilience. Are not most of us well off by comparison?

Not so Happy Christmas in South Sudan

Too many people here look very hungry and are very hungry. They are lucky if they enjoy one meal a day. They are living a year of fasting, not just a month as in Ramadan.

I have learned a new cross-language gesture: putting fingers together and raising them to one’s mouth indicates hunger, ‘Please help me to get some food’. It is bad enough in the capital, Juba, but in country areas it is worse.

One of the things that happen when lawlessness increases is that road travel becomes unsafe. Vehicles are stopped and all goods of value, including food, are stolen. The lucky ones are those who escape physical harm. So it is hard for traders to bring food in, markets and shops have little to sell, and the prices are inflated of what little there is for sale. Industrially, the people are powerless. One report during the past week, dated December 14, stated: A high court in Bor town in South Sudan’s Jonglei State has sentenced over 30 teachers to one month imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 SSP for protesting against unpaid salaries…. For their part, several teachers criticized the decision taken by the court, claiming the ruling was influenced by the state governor and his minister of education. The salaries of most teachers are less than 1,000 SSP (about $12) per month.

In late May, the media reported: Authorities in Western Lakes… have arrested at least four health workers who reportedly demanded to be paid for their work. Salaries for most health workers have not been paid for three months… University professors at five public universities and junior doctors at Juba Teaching Hospital in the capital Juba are also on strike over non-payment of salaries for the last three months.

The unlucky have no work; the lucky ones have jobs. The luckier ones get paid for their work; the very lucky ones receive pay increases to compensate for the devaluation of the local currency. Our income is mostly in dollars from donor partners. So we get more local pounds (SSP) for the dollar and can pass on more pounds to our workers, without breaking our budget – provided we can access enough cash. One parish priest mentioned to me last week that he wants to pay his teachers for Christmas but now the banks are limiting the amount one can withdraw to 5,000 SSP per day – just over $60 per time. The limit was recently slashed from 50,000 to 5,000. I do not understand the logic. The limit for dollar withdrawals is still $200 per day (and one is charged $10 for each withdrawal) – a miserable sum if you run a large business. Thus, many people are making multiple trips to the bank in which the queues are longer and longer and more and more time is wasted. So local businesses are now demanding to be paid in cash, not by cheque.

Of course, most people here do not have bank accounts. They have nothing to deposit. Their major problem is that they live in fear that what little they do have will be stolen from them. I personally know three individuals who have been robbed in the past week. Their insecure tukuls make soft targets for ‘lower level’ criminals, those desperately stealing to survive - ‘good thieves’ perhaps. One Catholic school had nineteen computers stolen last week – the victim of professional thieves who thwart security precautions to profit from their trade – ‘the bad thieves’.

For all of this, the Christmas liturgies will be over-crowded and celebrations will be buoyant. The people have learned to be grateful for what little they have, including the gift of life itself. South Sudanese know what it is like to be born in a stable, to endure suffering but to enjoy celebrating together.
Br Bill