Change of Plans
I showed up this morning for a women’s retreat, but somewhere between brewing a pot of Breakfast Blend and House Decaf it became apparent that I needed to be in the Choir Room and not the Bride’s Room. I ended up in a meeting about Southern Sudan.
This isn’t surprising considering the twists and turns my life has taken over the past several years. Recently returning from a year in Japan, extensive travel in Southeast Asia and two months on the Hill in Washington D.C., I find myself changed, left with questions that can no longer be ignored.
Perhaps this is how I ended up in the St. B’s Choir Room, surrounded by representatives from the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), Austin Peay State University (APSU), doctors studying HIV/AIDS, St. John’s and St. B’s Episcopal churches, the Jieng, Acoli and Nuba communities, the South Sudan Youth Connection, the Lost Boys Association and many more. I was honored to be invited. All I brought to the table was pen and paper and an open heart.
Apparently there have been 22 years of ongoing war in Sudan. The current Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and South is fragile at best. This meeting took place to announce an upcoming conference regarding the emergence of a new political party, the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM). The new president of Southern Sudan, Mr. Salva Kiir Mayaardit, will come to APSU in Clarksville, TN in March for the SPLM Post Conflict National Development Conference of North America. A government is newly established. A political party is in the making. These are exciting times, pivotal ones.
I learned that USAID is contributing on a national level, and President Kiir has recently visited Washington D.C. with the very folks at this meeting, as well as with the State Department. On a local level, APSU is planning how to train and equip the Sudanese in Nashville to return to leadership roles in their home country.
Everything about the morning intrigued me, from the Washington D.C. visits with President Kiir, to stories of ground-up glass in food and poisoned bottled water. This was not a movie. This needed no Hollywood elaboration. This was reality and I was sitting in the midst of it.
So I sat down with a few questions and rose hours later with dozens more. Most importantly, how had I been at St. B’s all these years without ever attending a meeting like this and now how can I become more involved?
This isn’t surprising considering the twists and turns my life has taken over the past several years. Recently returning from a year in Japan, extensive travel in Southeast Asia and two months on the Hill in Washington D.C., I find myself changed, left with questions that can no longer be ignored.
Perhaps this is how I ended up in the St. B’s Choir Room, surrounded by representatives from the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), Austin Peay State University (APSU), doctors studying HIV/AIDS, St. John’s and St. B’s Episcopal churches, the Jieng, Acoli and Nuba communities, the South Sudan Youth Connection, the Lost Boys Association and many more. I was honored to be invited. All I brought to the table was pen and paper and an open heart.
Apparently there have been 22 years of ongoing war in Sudan. The current Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and South is fragile at best. This meeting took place to announce an upcoming conference regarding the emergence of a new political party, the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM). The new president of Southern Sudan, Mr. Salva Kiir Mayaardit, will come to APSU in Clarksville, TN in March for the SPLM Post Conflict National Development Conference of North America. A government is newly established. A political party is in the making. These are exciting times, pivotal ones.
I learned that USAID is contributing on a national level, and President Kiir has recently visited Washington D.C. with the very folks at this meeting, as well as with the State Department. On a local level, APSU is planning how to train and equip the Sudanese in Nashville to return to leadership roles in their home country.
Everything about the morning intrigued me, from the Washington D.C. visits with President Kiir, to stories of ground-up glass in food and poisoned bottled water. This was not a movie. This needed no Hollywood elaboration. This was reality and I was sitting in the midst of it.
So I sat down with a few questions and rose hours later with dozens more. Most importantly, how had I been at St. B’s all these years without ever attending a meeting like this and now how can I become more involved?
posted by Catherine's Blog at 9:14 PM
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