Gulyar, Awerial County: Boats that are not river worthy
11 min readBy Mamer Deng Jur, 26 December 2014
Gulyar, currently is a good town. And I think, it was a rural area before innocent people from Bor flee to it (Gulyar). I spent all day, walking around Gulyar town. I toured the camp area where a number of stranded Bor people were camped by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). I took an opportunity to tour the market areas in this place.
There were two markets within Gulyar area. First market was located near the bay, and the second market was on Gulyar’s road to Juba and also Gulyar’s road to Yirolwut. Climate in Gulyar was humidity, sometimes it was very warmed during the day, and cool down during the night. But currently, many people from Bor’s areas are going back to their homes.
Many of them had felt sick of missing their beloved homes, and the environment they used to enjoy before they were abruptly displaced. By the terrorist who invaded their town for some months. They are going back, and I believed their leaving of Gulyar would have had an enormous impact on Gulyar’s people, and the environment. Gulyar had become semi – urban town, compare to how it was before these people fled their homes and camped in Gulyar.
On 26thof December 2014, my brother and I boarded a bus from Malek to Bor town. It was a continuous journey. So once we get off in Bor town we would take a boat there to Gulyar. We arrived successful into Bor town’s sand bay. Prior to that day, we missed a boat that was supposed to take us from Malek to Gulyar. It was unfortunate, on that day; we went to Panpandiar to visit our sister, and her children.
We arrived there, and the family was really busy cooking something for us, before we had to leave for Gulyar. We had sincerely insisted that, we were going to miss the boat; if we were going to wait for the food. But they kindly said we could not leave without tasting their food. We had accepted the offer as a sign of blessing to the family because we were uncles to her children.
Food was served and we ate and the food tasted delicious. After we had finished eating, we thanked the family for the meal. Then we took a boda boda to rush us to Malek to collect our belonging and to wait for taxi – (bus) to take us to Bor. We arrived into Malek, and we were so lucky to get on the last taxi to take us to Bor town.
That evening we arrived on the bay, before the last boat which was scheduled to leave at 5:30 pm to Gulyar. The boat sailed off the bay ten minutes after our arrival, we were settled very well on the boat. We were cruising on the White Nile’s waters, strong currents were beautiful. Cruising on the Nile was one of the greatest experiences I could always reflect on.
The smell of the water was just so fresh. Sightseeing number of birds swimming, sightseeing number of big fishes playing and diving in a distance was amazing. But the strong currents of the river waters made it difficult for us to spot the crocodiles and hippo. But I wasn’t interesting at all to see these creatures because they are dangerous, and the boat we were on it, was not river worth in my opinion.
Watching such creatures in the distance was the greatest adventure. The boat was sailing very close to the river bank, but not in the middle of the river. I didn’t know why? On the boat we were relaxing, and chatting to one another. The water was very white, but if you dip eyes into the water you could see that, the ratio of white sand and the water were equal.
Going Back to Bor Town
After I had spent two nights in Gulyar. I decided to go back to Bor Town and then to Malek.A small town I would usually spend my holiday whenever I am in South Sudan. On 28th December, I went to the river bank to wait for the boat to Bor Town. That evening I was escorted by my two brothers.They were living with their families and other relatives in a distance of an hour walk from/to the bay. We left home at 12:30 pm, and we arrived at the bay at 1:00 pm.
There was a boat that was supposed to leave for Bor Town at 12:30 pm. But unfortunately, the conductors didn’t had enough people travelling to Bor to fill the boat. So they were running around as if they were mad, stopping anyone they saw carrying a bag and interrogating him/her. If they were going to Bor, in an aggressive manner. I found it disrespectful to be interrupted in this manner especially when I am walking with someone and we are in the middle of conversation. It was pretty annoying to be stopped, suddenly by unexpected total stranger.
I was walking and talking at the same time with my brothers.When I was walking and looking down, and I heard a loud voice ‘are you going to Bor? I rose my head to see who was talking. Only a few footsteps ahead of me, I saw this huge fat man stood unfriendly in my way like a gate watchman. What jumped into my mind was that, had I in some ways done something wrong here or what? In that short time, I was covered in sweat.Then the question relieve my thoughts. Are you travelling to Bor? No! I replied. He walked away embarrassed.
Indeed, I was travelling to Bor, but I didn’t want him to bother us. Such aggressive tone in some areas in South Sudan was acceptable to be polite. According to my brothers opinions’ the man was very polite. Standing on the public road was just a normal behaviour like the government protocol.
So the conductors were still collecting people to fill the boat. In Gulyar, boats’ conductors don’t just collect people according to their wishes. They only collect people, if it was their turn to do so. All the boat had to queue up, and wait for their turn to come. Every boat had a timetable of taking people from Gulyar to Bor, and from Bor to Gulyar. So you had to know exactly what they would do once their turn had come.
Probably, they had two days in a week, or one day in a week to fill the boat. So this is what they do, they fill the boat with business goods and the people all together, until the side of the boat levelled the river water. When you are standing on the boat, you could even reach out your hands and touch the water. But, if the boat was at the dockyard and empty, you couldn’t reach out your hands to touch the water because it is a big boat size and large.
On that day I had waited for four hours, at the dockyard/bay. Waiting for more people to fill the boat. After that long waiting, we were called at last to climb into the boat. Due to the lack of seats on the boat.Boat fares were allowed to be pay once you are on the boat. Otherwise paying before you board the boat, was at individual’s risk.
Because they don’t issue receipts to the passengers whether you are on the boat or not on the boat. You give them your money, and you had to make sure that, they know your names. On this boat, there were three conductors, collecting money from the passengers. I couldn’t belief these people, they were shouting aggressively at the passengers who were struggling to get out their money in their wallets. They were behaving like people in the auction.
After they had finished shouting and collecting the money, they got off the boat. Then they tried to push the boat into the river, but they could not do it.Because the motor’s fan had stuck into the muddy clay soil. For that reason, the fan had failed to spin and pull the boat into the river. Consequently, they called for help, if some of the passengers could volunteer themselves to help them to push the boat into the river. Number of passengers and myself, climbed down the boat to help these greedy people push the boat into the river.
We were successful! Then we all climbed back into the boat, while the boat was strolling on the water. While we were on the boat, the captain of the boat tried to start the boat’s motor, but the motor could not start again. I was very close to him. I saw him trying to start the motor for good three rounds, but it didn’t start. Then it started in the fourth round.
That boat’s motor looked exactly like lawn mower’s motor, especially the way they operate it was exactly the way lawn mower’s motor works. For that motor to start, the captain had to roll a rope on top of the cylinder of the motor. Then, he pulled the rope with a force, so that the motor’s fan could spin. While the captain was struggling to start the motor, it was an opportunity for Nile’s strong currents to take the boat.
The boat was floating to a different direction. And at the same time, the boat was leaking.The water was running very quick inside the boat. This time it was unfortunate, noise erupted on the boat as if these passengers were in the distribution centre waiting to receive their ratios. Shouting and taunting remarks were irresistible on that boat.
Number of women were calling for a captain to do something about the water coming into the boat. They were very angry, but they didn’t know that, the captain could not do anything about the water because the motor wasn’t working. As saying goes it’s no use crying over spilt milk. Their aggressive behaviour didn’t stop there.Some of them burst into tears, speaking their minds. Men were sober, and they were referring these women to be cry-babies.
For some of the men it was a wagging movement, that they didn’t care whether the boat sink or not. Sob was very common to those women who think that they were strong. The temperature on the boat was hot as if we were in Darwin, Australia. The captain was reluctant, and careless when he realised that, passengers were misbehaving; and not helping the situation. He found him lonely, and needed a friend; he took out his cigarette and light it while he was still working on the motor. Luckily, there was a mechanic on board. He was ordered by the captain to deal with these angry passengers. Some of my mates and I were seated on the cabin of the boat.
This young boy, and I believe he was 15 years old, was the mechanic. He asked us to excuse, to give him a way, because our legs were blocking his way to the cabin box in order for him to go inside the cabin room to fix the problem. The water which had flooded the boat was coming through the cabin’s room. I saw him, he went down carrying a blue bar of soap to use in order to block the leaking holes. He spent about five minutes in the cabin’s room.
He came out at last, after he had finished what he was supposed to do. I couldn’t belie my eyes, the boy was covered in sweat as if he was a marathon runner. He looked confused, and his body was shivering as if he had arthritis. I looked at him, I saw him holding a piece of soap, and his hands were shaking as well. He couldn’t stood properly, his body wagged like a dog tail.
But this time, other areas on the boat were leaking again. While the boy was in agony position.Passengers started calling him, boy! Boy! Come over here and block the leakage. As I had mentioned earlier in some a few paragraphs that, the boat was full, but those idiots didn’t get it.There was no way through for that boy to leave where he was to where those people were strongly campaigning; that the water was flooding them.
In my position, I had different views, since the motor failed to start. First of all, my swimming experiences were in doubt. So I didn’t wish that, if the boat sank I wouldn’t had a problem with swimming. Second, there were many vulnerable people on the boat, women and children. Thirdly, I was not happy with the owners of the boat because they knew that their boat had a problem and was not river worthy and they deliberately failed to fix that problem because they only cared about the money. But if they did care about the safety of their passengers, then that boat did deserve to be sailed back to the bay, rather than risking number of innocent lives to cruise on a boat which was useless.
Fourth, I was worried that, if the boat was to go down like RMS Titanic, then we were unable to be rescued by anyone. The only rescuer that jumped into mind were crocodiles and snakes; they would be happy to rescue anyone if the boat went down. And I think they would definitely ask those individuals to show their visas for entering into their territory without a permission.
Otherwise any failure not to have a valid document to enter, then it would be treated as breaking the laws of the territory. And you would be locked up like those asylum seekers in NPG. But if you don’t have a visa, then bad luck and bad day.They would definitely without wasting no time break you into pieces and feed on your flesh to their young ones.
Such thoughts on my side were inside me; pressure built in me badly, the captain was hitting my back as if I was a punching bag.Every time he pulled the rope, and it failed to start the motor. But I didn’t complaint, because I knew that, he didn’t intended to hit me. I became stoicism. But when the passengers were idiots, shouting aggressively as if they were hornbill towards the boy demanding that he had to go and block the leaking areas.
I intervened aggressively, I told them, “why don’t we worry about the motor, rather than wailing and weeping for water?” I told the boy to give them that piece of soap, so that they would block those leaking areas by themselves, rather than bothering everyone on the boat, by making a disrespectful noise. The soap was passed to those who were complaining, and they did exactly what (kept quiet) I told them to do.
CONCLUSION
Then at last we were all happy, but unnecessary stopping and repairing of the boat were countless. Until then, we arrived safely into Bor town’s bay. You can watch my short clip video, which I took on that day.
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