South Sudan Welcomes Playing for Peace
Aug. 29, 2011
JUBA, South Sudan – Amid the dusty dirt roads of Juba, South Sudan, there is an echoing message of unity, peace and joy being delivered. The message is coming from all angles; via the national newspapers, television, radio and believe it or not, mobile DJs driving through the streets. All channels of communication are spreading the good news, whether the media platform is South Sudan TV or via Land Cruisers equipped with generators and audio systems to communicate to the thousands of internally displaced people in temporary housing throughout Juba.
The message: Come out and support South Sudan basketball through Notre Dame’s Playing for Peace basketball initiative that has arrived in South Sudan, the world’s newest nation.
The initiative, started by the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse and men’s basketball teams has been taken to South Sudan by Kevin Dugan, manager of youth and community programs for the Notre Dame athletics department. Dugan is on location in South Sudan for 10 days of international sports development work. South Sudan just received its independence and now faces an incredible challenge of nation building while uniting a region of the world that is heavily divided among tribal and ethnic lines.
Following independence, Dugan began consulting with Catholic Relief Services, the South Sudan Basketball Federation (SSBF) and the South Sudan Demobilization and Demilitarization and Reintegration Commission (SSDDRC) on how to best execute the event. On the ground there has been an incredible collaboration between the community, church and government partners to turn the Playing for Peace Championships into a powerful and symbolic event in South Sudan.
It has been an exciting and hectic week for Dugan; he has had an emerging world experience in sports marketing that has proved to be invaluable.
"Pulling this event together with the local community has been pure inspiration. People here in South Sudan have so much hope in the future of their new nation, but along with that, there is an absolute incredible atmosphere of excitement surrounding the future of basketball in this country," said Dugan. "It has been a crazy week of non-stop event planning, meetings and interviews. I’ve been flying around the streets of Juba on the back of a motorcycle from government offices, to the South Sudan TV station, to the radio station to the print shop to meet with NGOs to basketball practice."
There is no wonder Playing for Peace is getting so much attention right now (the championship game will be broadcast on South Sudan TV.) It brings together the two things that people in South Sudan love to talk about right now, peace and basketball.
"The grassroots effort of basketball players, the church, government officials and the media has been incredible," said Dugan. "This event is going to be a perfect example of the way sports can be used as a form of social and human development in the emerging world."
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