I've been doing some interesting train reading these days.
I'm nearly finished with Philip Caputo's "Acts of Faith"
It's about Sudan, specifically the conflicts amongst Sudanese government-backed Islamic militants and the Nuba people, and humanitarian aid organizations working out of that area. It' s a work of fiction but it certainly has my brain working, and out of curiosity, I started doing some internet research.

I know some basic things about the genocide in Sudan (and yes, unlike our government, I do not hesitate to call the conflict "genocide," because that's what it is, the calculated extermination of a people), but I did not know specific things that this book discusses, such as details about Nuba life and "illegal humanitarian aid organizations," or "renegade aid" as I like to call them, so I googled some things.

First of all, wikipedia provided me with some info about the Nuba:

Nuba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nuba man from the 'Nuba' Sudanese tribe

Nuba is a collective term used for the peoples who inhabit the Nuba Mountains, in Kordofan province, Sudan, Africa. Although the term is used to describe them as if they were a single tribe, in fact the Nuba are quite diverse, and are made up of different ethnic and linguistic groups. Estimates of the number of Nuba vary widely; the Sudanese government estimated that they numbered 1.1 million in 1993.

Leni Riefenstahl, better known for directing Triumph of the Will and Olympia, published a collection of her photographs of the people titled The Last of the Nuba in 1976

Between 1973 and 1994, the Sudanese government introduced programs to promote large-scale, privately owned agriculture to many regions including the Nuba Mountains. The efforts were redoubled as a result of IMF structural adjustment programs instituted in 1978. Large-scale mechanized farms were introduced, which pushed small peasants into marginal land between semi-arid and more lush savanna areas. Sudanese governments during the period misperceived the Nuba as a unified ally of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which furthered the oppressive measures against the tribes. These measures were indiscriminately applied, even to groups having no connection to the SPLA, such as the numerous Nuba Muslims. An example of these measures is the refusal to grant leases for undeveloped land that had been marked for future large-scale agricultural uses to peasants who were starving during the drought between 1983 and 1985. By 1999, over 100,000 people had been forcibly displaced by the agriculture programs, many of whom moved to urban areas, and are forced to face the difficulties associated with that type of transition.

In the 1986 elections, the Umma Party lost several seats to the Nuba Mountains General Union and to the Sudan National Party, due to the reduced level of support from the Nuba Mountains region. There is reason to believe that attacks by the government-supported militia, the Popular Defense Force (PDF), on several Nuba villages were meant to be in retaliation for this drop in support, which was seen as signaling increased support of the SPLA. The PDF attacks were particularly violent in nature, and have been cited as examples of crimes against humanity that took place during the Second Sudanese Civil War (Salih 1999).

Sorry for the blue underlines, I can't seem to get them to go away.

Through wikipedia links I found this site. It's particularly interesting because it has up to date news as well as pictures on it.

Next I wanted to find out more about renegade aid, ie aid flown into Sudan via private chartered and not sanctioned by the U.N. This is incredibly tricky to find out about online, but I am going to continue my quest for information. What I did find was information that basically said non U.N. aid is getting to Sudan now. Caputo's novel was published in 2005, so given the time at which it was written, the situation has probably changed, given the volatility of the region as well as some of the peace accords that have been attempted.

Since this entry is disjointed a bit, I've put some links below in case anyone is interested in further research, though these truly only scratch the surface.

A Smith professor's site
A non-profit website based in France
Amnesty International Statement on the blocking of Humanitarian Aid
An organization dedicated to the survival of the Nuba
A "humanitarian aid report"with lots of African news on it
A great article from National Geographic about the Nuba, with pictures

A grateful email from Mboya follows (warning: I think someone has been giving him American self-help books in order to deal with his sadness in being unemployed so there is a rather funny bit about self discovery and appreciation and a lot of Dr. Phil-esque bullsh*t, but you gotta love him for absorbing that stuff):

Hi allison,

good news! you cant imagine l went through and received the cash, actually it was no a hardship since i applyed everything in orders all the details you had given to me. [Getting cash from a MoneyGram is frustrating because you need to know the answer to a secret question and have a reference number, ugh. Luckily I learned from the last one to tell Mboya every last detail on the receipt so he doesn't have to wait a day to email me]

Otherwise i will be home for at list one day so that i can pay for the fee and i think i will settle all the bills for this semester till December.thanks sooo much. please tell all your friends how much i appreciate and hope same day we shall see each other since i know only mountains never meet , but humans you never know!!! [A favorite Swahili proverb Milima haikutani, lakini binadumu hukutana, Mountains never meet, but people, they do meet] cause self discovery is the first step towards self appreciation...... only that growth means change and change means letting go of the old to make way for new.As seed doesn`t ''betray'' other seeds when it grows in to a flower. As we head off in new directions, we will find new friends who are going the same way. By sharring new experiences we will form bonds that are just as strong as the bond we now have to break with travelling companions of the past. [positive, supportive friends are essential to a frogram of growth] [rrrrright. moving on]

Allison i really have no much, only that in Kenya we are expecting for the short rains seasons to begin in late october through mind-December,right now people are preparing for the planting season,to make sure the try weeds is cleared and burned , cause we allso believe is part of manure which is good for soil and it keeps it fertile for the germination of the plants. [Mboya's family farms, which has been difficult in the past because between spring 2003 and 2006 the rains, long rains that go from the end of March til June-ish and the short rains mentioned above, have failed, leading to drought and famine. After we left there in January, the rains arrived a few months later and caused damaging floods. I am hoping that next month the rain is on schedule and falls gently]

I had a question ? How do you want to learn the swahili? For me i had suggestion of you sending same wards [one of the things I love about Mboya's emails are that he writes the word like it sounds when he says it. When he says "words" it comes out as "wards" so he writes "wards" probably not even thinking about spelling since English is his second language and Swahili is phonetic and no one cares if your spelling is slightly off] in English then i can translate in swahili!! not unless you have other option!!!!

Samething i didn't understand! what do you mean your friends are so happy that they could do samething good for same one else? Do they want may be to educate more kids or students who are not able to pay for their schools or collages?or orphanes, please clarify to me! [that email is going to be a long one. I'm not sure how to approach the answer to this. I mean, there's the simple answer "we want to help someone go to school" or the personal one I would give him about being disillusioned by aid agencies and feeling the need to help someone and knowing that my money was being well spent by sending it to him. I'll have to think on this]

Well am not still ,not the\at good in typing i can take the whole day, although am better than before , i will still keep talking to you any other time,any time . [awww he's so dedicated! I forgot what it was like trying to type before I learned how to type. It was torture. poor guy. plus in english! he must want to bash his head against the keyboard]

Please if you send anything, think on the duties for the postage fee if you can, otherwise the end-up by charging so much at the post office,but i think with the stationery's are not that bad; but with electronics like the phone etc.hope it will be OK !cause i can't want to use it, and i really miss it pleeeeeeease.Anyways am not pushing anything just take your time. [I sent Mboya my old cell phone but of course, cingular locked it so it can't be used by anyone not in the network. Never fear, he sent it back and I'm going to send it to an unlocking company in Cali. Take that cingular b*tches. ok not really b*tches, your network really works well for me, LOL]

wish you wonderful schooling and hope you can also have fun, do you have terms off from school? please give my best to Sister Amy,your boyfriend, Reachel and Melissa,Elizabeth and the rest;Tell them i miss to see them, hopefully pretty soooon than later for God will.

Thanks and please take care also don't fall to keep in tough. God bless you. by 4 now

Mboya.

Now you can all see why Mboya rocks and is a grateful and wonderful and pretty funny person. I am going to reply to this email and send him a care package too. I am hoping to send him a disposible camera so he can take pictures of his family and then send it back to me so I can get it developed and I can post his pics and send him some, because most Kenyan farming families don't have pictures of each other or themselves. That's it for now, thanks for reading.
Allison

You think you've got drama in your life??!

Kenya: U.S. Unhappy With Country's Envoy to Washington

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

September 17, 2006
Posted to the web September 18, 2006

Otsieno Namwaya
Nairobi

Kenya is the focus of scrutiny by the United States Government, a development that could have far-reaching implications on diplomatic relations.

At the centre of the storm is the Kenyan Ambassador to Washington, DC, Mr Peter Oginga Ogego, who raised eyebrows two weeks ago when he criticised Illinois Senator Barack Obama on the US soil even before he had formally presented his papers to the US Government.

Independent sources say Ogego also violated diplomatic etiquette by dispatching the caustic letter directly to Senator Obama in disregard of the usual diplomatic channels.

"The Bush administration saw this as unkind, uncalled for and a complete breach of protocol, criticising a popular US senator even before presenting his credentials," said our source.

Ogego's is the second diplomatic gaffe involving a Kenyan envoy in Washington in less than a year. The Government had to recall Ambassador Leonard Ngaithe last October after a female member of the embassy staff accused him of sexual harassment.

The incident allegedly took place while President Kibaki was on an official visit there. Ogego, perceived to be close to Foreign Affairs minister Mr Raphael Tuju, was once close to Liberal Democratic Party leader Mr Raila Odinga, with whom he was detained during the Moi administration.

But he had fallen out with Raila by the time he was first appointed as the ambassador to Canada soon after Narc swept to power. Sources also said his relations with the US State Department could be on a rocky stretch given the seriousness Bush himself appears to have given criticism against Obama by speaking on the graft war in Kenya.

The Department's unease with Ogego is also believed to have been aggravated first by the fact that the new ambassador for unexplained reasons, did not show up during the presentation of an award to former Ethics and Governance PS Mr John Githongo in Washington.

Githongo, who has expressed willingness to return home and help unravel the Anglo Leasing scandal, not only received the award, but also on September 7 met Obama in his office. The two are believed to have discussed Kenya and the former PS pet subject - corruption.

Last week, Githongo for the first time said it was not true that Kibaki was a good man, surrounded by bad people. He argued that "bad leaders surrounded themselves with bad people".

Ogego's situation has been compounded by the fact that Government Spokesman, Dr Alfred Mutua, has since attacked Obama twice in a manner and language that has not been taken kindly by the US.

Mutua accused Obama of misrepresenting facts about the Government's efforts in fighting corruption, and suggested that the US Embassy staff in Nairobi could have wrongly briefed him.

But, while the statements by Mutua and Ogego may have been made out of the notion that Senator Obama's sentiments did not reflect US official policy towards Kenya, it is telling that Bush chose last Thursday to chastise the Kibaki administration for lack of commitment in the anti-corruption war, only two days after Githongo met Obama, an influential member of the US Foreign Affairs committee, to discuss graft in Kenya.

Ogego's absence for the KCA award disappointed the community, as it was a departure from tradition.

Githongo delivered a strongly worded speech about corruption in Kenya that was echoed two days later by President Bush when he officially received Ogego's credentials. Bush expressed concern over endemic corruption and the seeming lack of commitment by the Government to end the vice.

This was the first time for President Bush, who has never visited Africa since assuming office, to talk about Kenya and specifically about corruption. It comes at a time when informed sources say that the US Government, which only recently posted Mr Michael Ranneberger to Nairobi as its new ambassador, plans to speak out more strongly on corruption.

Its major concerns include the fact that, even though the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission has a huge national budget, it is yet to show results nearly three years since its establishment, even though there is compelling evidence of high level corruption.

In particular, the US and UK, where Githongo is exiled, want the Anglo Leasing investigation finalised and the culprits prosecuted.

On Thursday, The Standard quoted the UK High Commissioner to Kenya, Mr Adam Wood, casting aspersions on the Government's anti-corruption war.

"We would feel reassured if there was evidence of action; if there were prosecutions; if files passed on to the Attorney General for prosecutions are acted on," said Wood.

courtesy of AllAfrica.com

---

I read this article and I think "wow politics is a confusing and nasty business and it will come back to bite you in the rear."
I think there are a couple of important points made in this article.
1. President Bush has never been to Africa since assuming office. That's really sad. Most presidents are afraid of Africa, I think, or more likely, don't see it as important enough to visit. When Clinton went to Rwanda to apologize for the genocide he let happen under his nose (much like Darfur, only worse because the Rwandan aggressors didn't have an army, they had homemade weapons and little organization and could've been crushed by UN peacekeepers, sorry other story) he stayed for 30 minutes, never left the landing strip and kept the engine of Air Force One running the entire time. Classy. Oh well, I guess you have to give the president credit for at least meeting with these people and showing some concern. Everyone knows he wrote "Not on my watch" on the Rwandan Genocide report. I hope he keeps that promise.
2. The president has been talking about peacekeeping in Sudan with the Sudanese president and corruption in Kenya with the Kenyan president (a while ago) and the Tanzanian president (recently) yet I hear nothing about the "war on terror" which I'm sure was brought up, but it didn't seem to be the primary focus. Sigh of relief.
3. Barack Obama. Though his words were harsh and I'm not totally sure he should be sticking his oar in this issue, even though he is half Kenyan, I am happy about his interest in African politics. The United States is a strong and powerful nation and I think our ability to make important changes in Africa is great. Philanthropists have already shown us what can be done there, and it's time for the government to show some interest. I know it's hard when our priorities are elsewhere, but I think our leader could at least do a goodwill tour. SOMETHING. I think if Obama were president things maybe different. We'll see.

WOW.

Because of the overwhelming response of my wonderful family and friends, I've created an ING savings account with Mboya's name on it. This way I can deposit any overflow of funds to that account where it will earn interest at a decent rate and we'll have to raise that much less next time around. This way, any donations received after I make the Money Gram wire transfer will have a place to safely live until next semester.

Thanks everyone, you rock.

I've created this blog so that I may post news and bits from Africa, but also for a man named Joseph Mboya Musau.


I met Mboya in 2003 while studying abroad in Kenya. He worked for the Centre for Wildlife Management, run by the School for Field Studies, where I was studying and living.
Mboya's a great guy. He's funny and very sweet and would do anything for you. He was the one in charge of picking up our mail in Nairobi and he was damn faithful about it too, knowing that he would have to face the wrath of lonely research students if he didn't deliver. He also ran the camp's duka, or shop, and if we saw something we liked in one of the few supermarkets we got a chance to visit, he would go to the ends of Nairobi or further to try and get it for the duka. This included drinkable yogurt, which sounds foul but is actually one of the most delicious things I've ever had, nevermind the fact that I think the natural probiotics in it kept me quite healthy in the last weeks I was there, free from the scourge of stomach illnesses plaguing the other campers.

While I did spend plenty of time with Mboya in '03, I didn't really get to know him all that well, mostly due to the staff/student relationship guidelines set up by the school which kept the staff from hanging around us much, and also because I was embedded in my research and writing my paper at the time. In January 2006 I returned to Kenya with my college friends Rachel and Melu, and who was there to meet us in the airport? Mboya, who was shocked that I remembered his name. "How could I forget it?!" I said. With that he grabbed my bag and we were friends once again.

In 2003 email was somewhat scarce in Kenya, and while it is still not commonplace there, it's more accessible to people. This made staying in touch with Mboya and all my Kenyan friends much easier. When I returned from Kenya, I immediately emailed Mboya to send my greetings. He replied with some unsettling news: he had lost his job at the school, not because he was fired or a bad worker, but because not enough American students were going to the school, and there wasn't enough money to pay his salary anymore. Mboya had worked at the school since he was 16 (he is now around 32ish) and was completely unprepared to be thrown out on his own to find work. He was sad about this, I could tell, but he was more concerned for his 13 year old sister who had just started secondary school. He had been paying her school fees, as his parents could not scrape together enough money from the proceeds from the sale of produce from their land, as a three year drought had made their farm all but infertile. He never asked me to send him money, nor did he tell me what would happen to his sister if she got kicked out of school, but I will be honest, I imagined the worst case scenario. To have the opportunity at 13 to go to school and suddenly not be able to afford it is devastating, but in Kenya, it's worse than that. In a country where, according to the CIA World Factbook, 50% of the population lives below the poverty line and 40% of the population is unemployed, there aren't many options for a poor 13 year old girl who's just been kicked out of school. There were dark thoughts that swirled in my head: prostitution, fragmentation of the family, and the not so dark but just as grim: marriage to an older man, perhaps as a second or third wife. That's when I put my foot down. I called my friend Rachel and my parents, and between the three of us we can up with 3 months tuition, a mere $165, and I wired Mboya the money. All was well.

That was in April. Now it's September, and the school year has restarted. I received an email from Mboya earlier this month, but due to my own negligence, I didn't read it or respond right away. When I finally did respond, I found out that Mboya's sister is on the verge of being kicked out of school. The family does not have enough money to pay her school fees and they were due September 4th. He is panicking. I need him to stop panicking, and that's why I started this blog. I started this blog to put a human face on a continent many people might not think about every day. I started this blog so I'd have a better way to help a person in need.

After Hurricane Katrina, I donated a good chunk of cashmoney to the Red Cross. I was so disappointed when some of that money had gone astray, had been used to buy jewelry or to get a tatoo. I was so discouraged by this, that I vowed to start helping specific people. While organizations working in Africa are great and helpful and important, I decided that if I could help Mboya Musau's sister get through school it might be one of the best things I ever decided to do, and I knew that it would be helping a person directly. And if she goes on to be the first woman president of Kenya, hey, I'll know my time and money was well spent, and even if she doesn't, I know that my friends and I will have helped a girl and in many ways, changed the course of her life.

Because the money must be wired to Kenya tomorrow, I've put a paypal button in this blog. It's 100% safe and linked directly back to me. You can make a donation with your credit or debit card. If you would feel better writing a check, comment on this blog, I will send you my address. If you do make a donation, I will send you a letter of thanks with the amount you donated for tax purposes, but do take note that this is not a registered 501(c)3 charity and your donation may not be tax-deductible.

Thanks again for your time. Check back here for updates and news from Africa.

Allison
Mboya and me (looking busted). Yes Mboya wears his parka despite the heat!