Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Khartoum (Fides Service)- “Water is not lacking. On the contrary we have had too much and too fast. The soil has no time to absorb it all and remains paradoxically dry” Bishop Macram Max Gassis of El Obeid told Fides with regard to the food situation in southern Sudan following the alarm raised by humanitarian agencies operating in the region.
Humanitarian organisations warn that southern Sudan faces an imminent and serious food shortage due to weather conditions, massive return of internally displaced persons and difficulties encountered by international agencies to find resources to send to the region.
“However not all is lost” the Bishop said. “We were waiting for rains hoping they would be abundant and regular to allow the soil time to absorb the water and be ready for sowing”.
“People are already suffering because last year harvests were ruined by serious drought” the Bishop said. “As the local Catholic Church we are doing all we can to assist the stricken people. Thanks to the fact that peace has returned we were able to organise a convoy of eight trucks from Kenya to Rumbek the “capital” of southern Sudan. Each truck carried between 15-18 tonnes of food. The convoy took 18 days to reach its destination. On other occasions we have hired aircraft which were quicker but besides being more costly they carry no more than 7 tonnes at a time”.
Bishop Gassis recalled that during the 20 long years of civil war “the Catholic Church lost many members and suffered vast material damages. But we never lost hope. Now that at last a peace agreement has been signed, we are re-building churches and missions destroyed in the fighting. For example at the Comboni mission Mayen Abun we are rebuilding the mission house and school. We have sent a priest and 5 American volunteers to the mission. And GOAL a Catholic NGO is doing the rebuilding. A priority now is to train teachers so lessons can resume”.
In the bloody war in southern Sudan which started in 1983 at least 2 million people were killed and millions more were made homeless. It is hoped that the peace agreement reached in 2004 will really mean a better future for the people here. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 2/6/2005 righe 36 parole 418)
