Dut [pronounced "doot"] is my new Sudanese friend. He stayed with us for four days this past week. We had lots of time to talk and reflect on life.
Dut has experienced things in his twenty-five trips around the sun that I cannot imagine. He has seen death up close many times. He has had at least six near death experiences himself (that I know about.) He has experienced starvation. He knows what it is like to beg for food. He knows what it is like to grow up without parents or adults to teach you how to live and act. Yet despite it all, Dut knows how to have a good belly laugh.
He is one of the most joyous people I have ever met. I enjoyed some of the best belly laughs I have had in a long time this past week with Dut. Dut tells a funny story about a hippo that I will never forget. He has another one involving ostriches which is absolutely hilarious. I hope both appear in the book.
In just a short time, Dut has had an impact on my life. I learned a lot about African culture in general and the Sudanese culture in particular. I also learned a lot about life. Here are some of those lessons.
- Slavery is alive and well in this world. Slavery is not something that occurred 140 years ago. It is a present reality. It has not been abolished.
- Tribalism has had a devastating effect on Africa. The reason the barbaric [Islamic] Sudanese government has been so successful in waging a subversive campaign of oppression and genocide against the south is because of tribal factions. The government leverages tribal squabbles and plays off one group against another using promises of food and education. The government manages to get others to do the dirty work for them. The current atrocities being committed against the Darfur tribe by Janjaweed thugs -- are no different than the atrocities committed against the Dinkas by Darfur thugs fifteen years ago! For the Darfur, what goes around, comes around. In fifteen years, it may be atrocities committed against the Janjaweed that gain the attention of the world.
- People convert to Islam and Christianity for the strangest reasons. Dut shared many stories about conversions. It is amazing how little Muslim converts really know about Islam, and how little Christian converts know about Christianity. The need for discipleship among Christian converts is HUGE. The understanding of the average African Christian is about an inch deep. It is largely emotionalism. The Muslim conversions are no different. Many convert to Islam just so that their kids can get access to public education. It is an enticing carrot on the stick to gain Islamic conversions.
- The "peace treaty" that was supposedly signed in Sudan is a farce. The Islamic government disarmed the rebels in the south but did nothing to disarm the Islamic militia thugs that they hired to suppress the south. In other words, the Islamic government signed a deal in which they say they will have peace with the non-Islamic south -- they collected the guns from the the rebels in the south, and left guns in the hands of Islamic militia [the Gestappo] which they hired to police [terrorize and oppress] the south. The result, the genocide, rape, and slavery continue. Hmmm. Some peace deal.
- The oral tradition is alive and well. Dut's tribe does not record history in a written form. They maintain their history orally through narratives. They are expert story tellers. Dut's memory is amazing. He recalls dates with tremendous clarity. He starts every story with, "this happened in August of 1988" ... "or this happened in the dry season of 1992, which would be around July" ... and so forth. I used to wonder how the stories of Jesus Christ existed in an oral form for thirty years before the gospel writers began penning them. Not any more. I can easily envision how this could happen after spending some time with Dut.
More later...
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