Garry and local community members at Beliak with plans for the new school (Photo: © Garry Ion/CMS) It all seemed an impossible pipe-dream in 2002, when I first visited the abandoned diocesan centre and bible college in Kajo-Keji, southern Sudan. The church had fled the site for refuge in northern Uganda a decade earlier, at the height of the war between the North and the South.
I remember following Canon Henry, the Principal of Kajo-Keji Bible College, into the thick bush and tall elephant grass to look at several dilapidated buildings. I then refused to examine the rubble any more closely out of fear of snakes and landmines!
Garry Ion, Canon Henry Leju and Mr Joseph Wol at Kajo Keji(Photo: © Garry Ion/CMS)Everything had been destroyed beyond recognition except Canon Henry’s desire to see the college and church rebuilt.
I have encountered similar determination time and again in many southern dioceses.
Over the past seven years it has been a privilege to work alongside the Church and local communities in planning their reconstruction and then, in my capacity as facilitator, helping to draw up building plans.
At first my fear was that my plans would remain on the drawing board and result in nothing more than heightened, unrealistic expectations. But, underpinned by much prayer, three years on from the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, a huge reconstruction programme has begun.
I return to Kajo-Keji regularly to supervise the building work and, each time, I am amazed at the speed at which development is taking place: roads are being repaired and churches and schools being built.
Last week, in Kajo-Keji, I attended the opening of the new church community centre – sponsored by a parish in Britain.
It is great to see these links being made and the Sudanese and Western churches involved reaping the blessings of these cross-cultural partnerships.
One of the main challenges I experience now, during the current building boom, is trying to price building work accurately.
To complete on budget and on time is almost impossible, given soaring inflation, thanks to a scarcity of resources and skilled labour, as well as rising transport costs.
Vocational training is a key skill needed if the young men, in particular, are to make the transition from displacement and war to resettlement and self-sufficiency.
Many have little or no education, which doesn’t help their low self-esteem, so the church has a vital role in teaching life skills in a holistic way.
Sadly, when we consider the whole of southern Sudan, many communities have yet even to experience peace.
In recent weeks, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has attacked, pillaged and abducted members from some of the south’s most remote communities.
A prayer for peace still seems even more relevant than one for development in this part of Sudan. However, through these buildings projects in which I’m involved, the process of building and rebuilding and the end results represent a fragile but life-giving hope.
CMS mission partner Garry Ion works as a consultant in Construction Planning and Management – taking on many projects in southern Sudan.