It has been around fifty years since a wave of liberation swept through Africa and many states were granted their freedom from European colonial powers.
Looking back, the first half century of independence has for many of them been plagued by corrupt rulers, economic mismanagement, extreme poverty, conflict, hunger and disease.
But the history is not just one of despair, but also one of achievement, success, freedom and ingenuity. Far too often is Africa only thought of or portrayed in a negative light (this or that suffering, conflict or famine) and far too little are those stories told that make Africa everything that it is.
More importantly, we rarely hear African voices. The airwaves and headlines are dominated by politicians, academics or western 'experts'.
On July 9th 2011, South Sudan officially gained its independence and became the world’s youngest state. As this country begins on its long and surely arduous journey towards development, the hope is that it will avoid many of the same pitfalls that lead to underdevelopment in other African countries, and instead learn from their mistakes and implement the things that have been done right.
9 countries - 90 days - 900 voice - 9000 kilometers
In early May 2012, my two brothers and I will be leaving Cape Town and driving up to Juba, South Sudan’s capital. En route to Juba we will drive through South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. The journey will take three months.
Along the way we will engage as many people as we can in each country; we are aiming for 900 (100 in each country). Teachers, artists, students, doctors, elders, refugees, priests, politicians, farmers, beggars, academics, journalists, dissidents and whoever else wants to share their thoughts with us.
After explaining the purpose of our trip and the idea behind guiding it, namely to gather different innovative ideas and words of advice that people of Africa have to offer to the people of its newest state, we will focus the discussion around two questions:
1) What do you think has been important for your community's/country's development so far?
2) What do you think needs to be done in the future to further develop your community/country?
The questions are intentionally vague - we don't want to set the agenda or dictate the subject of debate. We just want to listen and take notes. However, the focus of the second question will very much be on what specific ideas people have that they think would solve some of the problems or issues facing their community/country.
All the adversities faced have bred a strong sense of ingenuity that is unique to developing countries in Africa and beyond - it is this ingenuity that we are most interested in. The practical on-the-ground innovations that make a difference in Zimbabwe, for example, may very well be just as useful if implemented in South Sudan.
The questions are also meant to be positive, forward-looking and stimulate constructive input, rather than dwelling on what happened in the past that may or may not have been responsible for getting countries to their present state of affairs. Not only have past issues been much-analysed and discussed already, but they can often also be a source of tension between people from different political affiliations, tribes, socio-economic situation, etc. Therefore, the focus here will very much be on the question: ‘what next?’
Outputs
Out of this diverse group of African voices following such a broad prompt, we wonder what different themes will emerge. What will these 900 people think and feel are the issues at the heart of their communities' and their countries’ development, including all the ups and downs associated with it? Will these be aligned to what western donors focus their foreign aid on, or do the priorities diverge? Will there be a pattern of themes that transcends national boundaries, or are the findings from each country independent and unique?
Moreover, in terms of transforming words into action, what, if anything, can the South Sudanese people learn from the failures, the innovation and the successes of some of its African neighbours? Can their ways of doing things encourage practical action in South Sudan? Can their ideas spark something or plant a seed in some of the young minds to whom South Sudan’s future belongs to? And finally, what level of pan-African solidarity can be generated by this kind of on-the-ground sharing of experiences and knowledge?
It is our hope that, at one level or another, Letters to Juba will have an impact by not only being a constructive contribution to the ongoing debate around South Sudan's nascent development process, but also by being a source of inspiration for new social innovations there.
We hope to do this in three main ways: first, by summarising the themes that emerge from our many conversations into a report. We will submit this report to relevant stakeholders in South Sudan, including the Ministry of Social Development, various UN agencies, embassies and donor agencies. At the report launch in Juba, we hope to discuss its findings with policy-makers, donors, civil society, journalists and youth leaders.
Second, we plan to have a series of presentations, debate and discussion forums with youth leaders in Juba, at which we will share the many ideas we have collected from people and communities along the way. The result of these meetings is the establishment of a youth group, whose goal it will be implement some of these innovative ideas and push for positive change in South Sudan.
And third, to make use of social networking, online and print media, radio and other mediums to raise public awareness around the findings of the project and the idea that lies at the heart of it: namely, that the people of Africa need to be given more of a voice and listened to and that a tremendous amount can be achieved by sharing innovative ideas. We have created this interactive blog to showcase some of the voices we collect along the journey. The blog is also meant to become a platform for the sharing of ideas, by encouraging people living in developing across Africa and the rest of the world to submit their ideas in the form of short letters.
We welcome all input. Please comment below or email us at letterstojuba@gmail.com
South Sudan Background
For the better part of the last fifty years there has been war between the South and the North of Sudan. Shortly after independence in July 2011, fighting erupted in several regions as armed rebel groups from either side of the border are demanding power. Most of the fighting is in the border regions where the oil is located. Every other week there is an attack on a village, refugee camp or oil pipeline. There are also bitter inter-ethnic tribal disputes over cattle and land that have in recent months left thousands dead and many more displaced.
About 98% of national income is derived from oil revenues. Oil has been a curse to development in so many other African countries, exacerbating corruption and stifling innovation in other productive areas.
The country also suffers from severe underdevelopment. It has the lowest literacy rate out of any country in the world: only a quarter of the population can read and write. It also has the highest infant mortality rate: one in every nine children dies before they reach their first birthday.
