Young Maryville College grad now helps lead emerging African nation
- By Robert Wilson
- Knoxville News Sentinel
- Posted October 1, 2011
In an October 2009 photograph, Jimmy Makuach, left, meets with a village chief and subchiefs to discuss the future of South Sudan. The 2006 Maryville College graduate is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and now serves on the staff of South Sudan President Salva Kiir. (Maryville College/Special to the News Sentinel)
Maryville College graduate Jimmy Makuach visits campus minister Rev. Anne McKee Friday at Maryville College. Makuach, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, is a naturalized American citizen and serves on the staff of South Sudan President Salva Kiir. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
In an October 2006 photograph Jimmy Makuach, left, and Victor Chol are sworn in as U.S. citizens in a ceremony in Greeneville, Tenn. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL)
MARYVILLE — Jimmy Makuach’s country has a history of only 84 days, but he says its future is where his focus is.
Though lacking in infrastructure, the Republic of South Sudan is on its way to being a sovereign citizen of the world, says Makuach, 30, who serves the fledgling nation as the "president’s note taker," a title that probably understates his position within the democracy led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
"South Sudan has learned from the experience" of other nations, he said Friday during a visit to his alma mater, Maryville College. "It takes time. Democracy does not come quickly."
Makuach was among thousands of children known as the Lost Boys of Sudan in the mid 1980s. They were typically 6 or 7 years old and were orphaned or separated from their families by a brutal civil war that ripped the region apart. The Lost Boys who survived completed a walk of up to 1,000 miles to reach Kenya and safety.
Makuach completed his primary education there and came to Maryville College through the sponsorship of First United Methodist Church. He completed his degree in international studies in 2006.
Makuach said his college degree is the result of his desire to return to the African continent and make life better for those he left behind.
The challenges the new nation faces are formidable, he said, with many of even the most basic of human necessities still not in place.
"There are no roads, no hospitals, or schools, no clean water," Makuach said. "And our resources are very limited. It will take time, but we rely on the assistance of our friends in the region."
And the U.S. also is expected to be a prime player in helping get South Sudan on its feet.
South Sudan became a sovereign nation July 9 and has gained formal recognition by the U.S. government.
Makuach and President Kiir, a man with a penchant for cowboy hats, last week were in New York for meetings at the United Nations. Makuach seized the opportunity while in the U.S. to visit the Maryville College campus and renew some old friendships among the faculty.
He describes Maryville as "my second home," and says that the times of his life have ranged from the tenuous — barely surviving — to the present, when he is helping a new nation be born.
The significance of what he calls "this moment" is not lost on Makuach, and he looks ahead to a "long journey" for South Sudan.
Makuach has reunited with some members of his family. His parents are dead, as are some of his brothers and sisters.
But his new country, which is home to 8.2 million people and a section of the Nile River, is just beginning to establish itself.
"South Sudan will learn from many nations," Makuach said. But it will mature slowly.
"The U.S. took many, many years."
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/01/young-maryville-college-grad-now-helps-lead/
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