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Jalle is one of the five Payams (districts) within Bor County in the southern part of Jonglei state in southern Sudan. It has a population of more than 20,000 people whose lives are based on livestock and agricultural production. Elected chiefs trusted by the people to work for their welfare run Jalle. The Islamic government disrupted this life by imposing Islamic faith and the Arabic language on non-Muslims. The people of Jalle felt this mistreatment as rigid and unjust. A 21-year civil war between north and south Sudan left southern Sudan economically and socially impoverished, today the people of Jalle have no clinics, schools, or clean water systems.
Jalle before the war was well off as people were living as a community next to each other. Huts called “Tukuls” made of grass and mud covered the land as I can recall from the time I was home. The area was green with a lot of rainfall. After the war, the government forces from the north destroyed the whole region leaving it like a desert.
On January 9, 2005, the northern Sudan government signed a peace agreement with the southern rebels, which allowed the southern Sudanese refugees living in the neighboring countries to go back to their villages for the first time in over 20 years. I myself returned home to Jalle in January of this year and was surprised at what I saw. Things were different from before. Where there were once thousands of huts, there were now only a few scattered buildings. The trees I had remembered were gone. The land was dry and empty. People were few, as most have not yet returned from the refugee camps. Recent floods have also kept people from returning to their homeland. I did not recognize my home.
There was nothing I brought back to the United States, then a desire to help the orphans children of war. Together we can make a difference in people’s lives. Every child deserves these basic needs. Lets join hands and help now.
[information taken from http://www.rebuildsudan.org/]
