Polataka Face Foundation: Dr. John Garang’s Predictable Seeds for New Sudan (part 4)
6 min readBy David Matiop Gai, Juba, South Sudan
May 25, 2016, (SSB) — After all groups arrived safely in Polataka, we were not yet mixed with other children from other regions in Southern Sudan and the Sudan. The first group who left Bor in late 1989 until January 1990 was hailed from Bor alone. Each group began cleaned their own compound. There were old latrines used during elementary senior secondary school in Polataka. In every corner of Polataka, you can get these well designed latrines within and around Polataka. We also dug new latrines.
We began cleaned three big playing grounds. One freedom square among group two, group three, and marerek group. Another one was between group one, and the store. Last freedom square was between group five and group eight in the north, group four and group one in the south, while homes of Sebit William, Bol Dau and Dr. Deng Malual were in the east.
In an estimated from 15 January -26 March 1990, Red Army from Mundari, Nuba Mountains, and Nuer and Bhar el ghazal arrived too in Polataka. They got us camped from group one to group eight. They were kept separately for a while or for some months. We were not yet learned of SPLA language of comrade. The children from different Payams of greater Bor community were mixed into eight groups, and we began knew one another, but still difficult for us to collaborated with new groups especially children from Nuba Mountains, and because of their eating of some animals, we have had no interest to stayed together.
Intimately, the proposed total of Red army among regions was connectedly completed and even few children Acholi, Lotuko, and Murle were incorporated into Polataka. The roofs were removed as I mentioned in part three. High Commander Kuol Manyang Juuk called two Alternate commanders: late Alternate commander Alier Nyok who was army leader in Upper Talanga, and Alternate commander Kuol Mayen Mading who was also the army commander in Parajok; kuol Mayen is now the Acting Director of Wildlife and conversation of the Republic of South Sudan. They held a brief meeting on the issues of removed iron sheets and the entire environment of children in Polataka.
At the meeting, the results were orders to returning iron sheets back to Polataka. The chiefs were instructed to inform the entire villages and those who took iron sheets to come with the iron sheets from the day of the meeting. Immediately chiefs executed the order effectively. Two days after the meeting, men and women from the village of Yiri, the biggest village in north of Polataka came with iron sheets and the roofs were fixed accordingly. The buildings were rehabilitated, boreholes were also constructed, and we used clean drinking water.
At first, there were no dishes or plates in which we can put our food in it. We used sacks as dishes for food. In houses, block on floor got damaged, and we used to sleep on sacks, other slept on the floor. But after three months from our settling in Polataka, we began used local beds of woods. How we do used local beds? We cut woods and make edges of nails sharpen, and cut a hole on all side of a wood, and then make tip of other wood as leg. We adjust and collected local reeds called Acheec for the body or belly of beds. In this local engineering, some of us became experts and we assisted ourselves from sleeping on the floor. The entire group slept on beds in two – three months.
Concrete buildings were not enough for us and on the other year; some of us built to themselves tukuls. We built small houses for leaders, and big houses for platoons. Our platoon built three grass thatch roof building. We got grass thatch roof building nice for us especially during the dry season. In Polataka, the grass in Acholi land is not like grass in our area. Here the grass is called twae; it is a bit soft grasses. We used to cut the grass with pieces of iron sheet as a single. In our group and the entire Polataka, we become expatriates. Alternate commander Kuol Mayen and Alternate commander Alier Nyok told chiefs of the areas around Polataka that if one child lost his live on the course of the villagers assassinates, the village will be hold accountable, and they went back to Parjok, and Upper Talanga, we stayed well.
One night in Polataka, especially in group three, children behaved badly or silly by showing foolish action against themselves. It was really showing lack of common sense or proper judgment. Children went inside the house with stones and began throwing stones up inside and others threw stone outside house. This havoc caused injuries and noise in group three. The 1st Lt Awur Mawel, staff sergeants and corporals of Koryom platoon came and advised children. When they went back, the children began it again by throwing stones; they came back vigorously with angered and brought everybody out of the house, and punished all of us including the innocent.
We were told to stand up for a while; we stood up for two hours. They deployed Koryom platoon to stand around us, and if you moved your body, you are beaten with some lashes. We were ordered to set down with sitting ability of military sitting, (Ahgot kueeth) or sit properly. They told us, those who these things will die and told us to said it, we say repeatedly. The inspired advice I received and I had never forgotten was the in-law advice. Awur said, “don’t do silly things that may remained in minds of people, you will grow up and you will know each other in the future, and if you want to marry your colleague sister, he can refuses if he knows what you have done when you were together in Polataka”. That was the nice advice by the way. We know one another in South Sudan today as he said.
The other important event we went to know in this article is how Dr. John Garang sent Sebit William Garang Dut to Polataka as a leader of Red army of Polataka face foundation. And finally how he (Garang) named Polataka with new brand name of Polataka face Foundation, and the meaning of what I proposed as the title with Dr. John Garang Predictable Seeds for New Sudan, and activities we did in Polataka in part 5
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