The Sudan civil war, and those who poured their parental guidance into nurturing us [Part 2]
4 min readTo all our Caretakers, Those Who Poured Their Parental Guidance into Nurturing Us
By Kur Wël Kur, Adelaide, Australia
December 11, 2016 (SSB) — At early ages, those who criss-crossed deserts into Ethiopia and those of us who plunged into a different weather at Palataka in Equatoria, found ourselves in the hands of other adults. In the livelihood of rearing cattle, our parents instilled independence into us at young ages.
So, living far away, following green pastures and waterholes for our herds of cattle wasn’t a problem for us (the Dinka children). By ‘’perfect strangers’’ (most of the times, they were uncles), we would get whooped when we trailed off from the tangent of the conventional norms of our ancestral lives; sometimes, we would get praised when we aimed at doing the right things with the right accuracy of our behaviours.
However, brutes do exist, those who hate the guts of other peoples’ children. They’re everywhere. If given chances, they would abuse other peoples’ children physically. It’s this same notion that forces parents to confide the responsibilities for their children only to those they trust. Dr. John Garang with those who were in the echelons of his leadership were aware of this truth. So, when it came to us in Pinyidu and in Palataka, they (Dr. John and his generals) didn’t take it lightly.
I sometimes ask myself, what do we miss about Dr. John Garang?
To the readers of this blog, the answer to this question is displayed in qualities of Ping Deng Majhok of Pinyidu, and in qualities of Sebit William Garang Dut and Awur Mawel Malual of Palataka. For those who were in Pinyidu, you know what this remarkable leader did for you, and those who were in Palataka with me, we know what these leadership giants did for us.
Because I am confident to talk about Sebit and Awur, Ping Deng Majhok won’t appear in the rest of the series, but Sebit and Awur will be featured a lot in last comments of the series.
To drop you a hint of what I believe we miss about Dr. John Garang, John was a genius when it came to choosing the right people for jobs that needed done. So for frontlines, he had the fire-tested and decorated generals; for civilian administration, he hand-selected the best politicians; for nursing the infants of liberation, he prayed to God and ancestral gods to guide him in selecting the best of the best guardians who embodied the best parental care.
So, Dr. John Garang sent Sebit William Garang Dut and Awur Mawel Malual to care for, to educate and to guide the Palataka boys (famously known as Face Foundations) as they would grow to be the next freedom fighters for New Sudan whether by bullets or ballots.
Sebit William Garang Dut and Awur Mawel Malual are epitomes of parental care
I chose to write about these amazing leaders because they did their assignments with excellence. Dr. Garang bestowed our wellbeing and success to them. With their love for our struggle to attain freedom, they gave the purest teachings of their souls to educate us. Some people might argue that they were just doing their job like everyone else so there shouldn’t be a need to shine a spotlight on them.
However, this is not true because a lot of leaders failed in their jobs. And it was considered and treated as a failure. So, why can’t we recognise and appreciate the best breeds of excellence? In all fairness, ‘spades are always spades’ as are geniuses of leadership.
Thanks for your time, and lookout for: [Part 3: Sebit William Garang Dut]
Kur Wël Kur has a Bachelor Degree in Genetics and Zoology from Australian National University (ANU). He was the former the General Secretary of Greater Bor Community in Adelaide, Australia. He can be reached via his email contact: kurwelkur @ yahoo.com
The opinion expressed here is solely the view of the writer. The veracity of any claim made are the responsibility of the author, not PaanLuel Wël: South Sudanese Bloggers (SSB) website. If you want to submit an opinion article or news analysis, please email it to paanluel2011@gmail.com. SSB do reserve the right to edit material before publication. Please include your full name, email address, the city and the country you are writing from.
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