When first considering the sub-theme of the SSA conference
for 2005: "Casualties, Displacements and Injustice," it struck me that Sudanese
peoples have long been on the move. Having worked in Sudanese ancient,
medieval and modern history it is clear that most of Sudanese historiography
has been tracking the movements, arrivals and departures of diverse peoples.
Whether in the most ancient peopling of the continent and region, or the
movements of the A Group and C Group and the enigmatic "Noba" to the rise
and fall of Meroe, the very complex movements of Sudanic/Nilotic people,
to the Nuba Mountain refugees, the nomadic eastern people, the spread of
the Niger-Congo peoples to the recent arrival of the Rashaida, and the movements
of the Guhayna and Baggara Arabs; this has long been a nation on the move.
The migration and evolution of Sudanese national and regional political capitol
towns, the complex movement of Christians and Muslims in the Christianization
and Islamization of Sudan to the modern refugees from war and ecological
disturbances add to this mix. Thus, this paper will try to inventory a migration
history of Sudan and begin to see the diverse military, economic, military,
and political factors for migration. Also what are common features and implications.
This can begin a discussion of this inescapable dimension in Sudanese history.
A thematic summary of these migratory practices will be offered to get this
discussion moving across this new terrain of old history.
From Sudan to Canada, Surviving on
all Fronts: Women, War, and the Refugee Experience
The number of refugees from Sudan arriving in Canada has tripled since 1999
due to the ongoing civil war. Refugees are normal people thrown into
an abnormal situation. Unlike immigrants, they come with the heavy burden
of past circumstances that continue to affect their life in the host country.
This paper is based on a qualitative research project (2003-2004) conducted
in Hamilton, Refugee Women from Sudan and their Mental Health, and on subsequent
experiential knowledge and initiatives. Its purpose is to discuss the effects
of civil war on the mental health of refugees, particularly women, as well
as their strategies to enhance their mental health and that of their families
and community. Women experience the same hardships as men, but they
also experience gender-specific pre- and post-settlement hardships, and use
gender-specific healing practices and coping strategies. This paper
puts a particular emphasis on the positive experiences the women have drawn
upon to enhance mental health. Briefly, circumstances that affect their
mental health include:
• war, politics and violence (gender coercions, children
taken to war, life in refugee camps, change of identity for the purpose of
survival)
• forced displacement and adaptations to multiple refugee
camps and host countries
• family dismemberment and women left alone (ie:
sole parents; “lost girls”)
• economic hardships and financial responsibilities
(towards relatives left in Sudan and those in Canada).
• waiting: uncertainty, temporariness, precariousness
• intense emotions, tensions and conflict resolution with
community members from groups at war in Sudan.
• challenges with mainstream institutions (fear of authorities,
of bureaucracy, of institutions).
The women draw upon a number of strengths that contribute to positive mental
health, such as: pride in own culture, respect for and use of elders in problem-solving,
family-oriented community, realistic acceptance, sense of dialogue and willingness
to reach out, leadership, spirituality.
Emphasis will be put on women’s coping strategies and initiatives, with examples
drawn from experiential knowledge, namely:
• reliance on family
• a sense of strength in community
• reliance on friends
• community mediation
• culturally grounded beliefs and practices
• reliance on self
Initiatives that were particularly conducive to enhancing mental health include:
• activism to stop the war ( the Darfur movement)
• connecting with progressive churches, organizing joint
activities and exchange of knowledge
• getting together, using humor
• using “strategic essentialism” with mainstream institutions.
• educating main stream institutions.
The last two points will lead to a reflection on the use of “strategic ressentialism”
and on the importance of educating and involving mainstream institutions
and the public at large.
Making Sense of Exile: The Transformation of Social Relations
among Sudanese Acholi in Uganda
Tania Kaiser
University of London
Displaced by Sudan’s internal conflict, large numbers
of Sudanese refugees have spent a protracted period of exile in Uganda
since 1989. Those entering the formal system of refugee reception and
response have been accommodated in UNHCR serviced refugee camps and settlements
where they have faced security, subsistence and social challenges. Based
on ethnographic field research carried out in Ugandan refugee settlements
between 1996 and 2004, this paper sets out to explore themes relating
to the social experience and response of a population of Sudanese Acholi
refugees.
Firstly, and with respect to the question of how a sense of history and
commitment to sets of cultural practices ‘matter’ to peoples
encountering changes and external shocks, it explores the innovative and
creative ways in which Acholi refugees have contrived to preserve and
transform social relations, institutions and practices in the context
of conflict and exile. Drawing on analyses of Acholi systems of social,
spatial and spiritual organization, the paper traces some of the ways
in which change has been managed, and challenges to Acholi / Sudanese
norms and identity understood and regulated.
The paper seeks to demonstrate some of the ways that an understanding
of such social processes – which stress continuities of causality
and experience – is critical for any attempt to understand the specific
ways in which displaced people (who are often characterized as passive
and marginal in a range of ways) exert their agency by actively managing
their predicaments with explicit reference to the past, as well as to
the future.
Africa in World History and World
History in Africa: Sudanese Dimensions in the Classroom
Philip Luke Sinitiere
U of Houston, USA
In recent months the journal World History Connected
and the newsletter Historically Speaking devoted entire issues to
various topics in African history and offered important suggestions
for teaching African history. As important and beneficial as
both of these publications are, neither issue addresses Sudan.
My paper seeks to compliment and extend the reflections on Africa
and teaching Africa from World History Connected and Historically
Speaking by summarizing curriculum relating to modern Sudan and by
offering suggestions for implementation in both the secondary and
undergraduate classrooms.
Second Baptist School, a college preparatory school
located in Houston, Texas, focused on Sudan for its Interdisciplinary
Learning program in fall 2004. This program required all Upper
School students (grades 9-12) to read Francis Bok’s Escape From
Slavery (St. Martin’s, 2003), a story of captivity in and escape
from Sudan. Before a comprehensive quiz to measure student learning,
Second Baptist hosted three guest lectures (including Elias Wakoson
and Francis Bok) about Sudan, had small-group discussions about the
book and the history of Sudan, and screened the PBS documentary Lost
Boys. The first part of this paper describes this curriculum.
The second part of the paper engages much of the
recent literature on Sudan, and drawing from my own teaching and research
experiences, suggests ways in which educators might implement this
material into the secondary or undergraduate world history classrooms
for its geo-political relevance, its interdisciplinary possibilities,
and its ability to inspire reflection on the craft of history.