Seeing the Shadows

Soldiers. We hear about them everyday. We see them on the news, and get updates about the wars happening around the world. How are these soldiers gathered together? What is needed to make a soldier a soldier? To start off we need a war, battle, or two people that have a vast amount of power.

Imagine if you will that your country goes through a civil war. Why even here in the United States we had a civil war. What if we had two? In Africa a country named Sudan had just that; two civil wars.

In 1983 the President Nimeiri announced that Sudan would incorporate Islamic Law into their constitution. In 1985 there was a coup with the government. The Sudan Poeple's Liberation Army (SPLA) decided to rescind President Nimeiri declaration. In May 1986 the SPLA and some Sudanese political parties went to Ethiopia, and drew up the "Koka Dam" declaration. This declaration abolished the Islamic Law. However, in June 30, 1989 the military government overthrew the SPLA.

"The SPLA is in control of large areas of Equatoria, Bahr al Ghazal, and Upper Nile provinces and also operates in the southern portions of Darfur, Kordofan, and Blue Nile provinces. The government controls a number of the major southern towns and cities, including Juba, Wau, and Malakal. An informal cease-fire in May broke down in October 1989, and fighting has continued since then.(Sudan Second War)"


Photograph by Sabestio Salgado

With both parties struggling for power, and going through a civil war things started to get out of hand. Villages were broken into, and even burned down in the middle of the night just so the military government, and/or rebels could kidnap these boys. Parents became very aware of this and feared they would not be able to protect their children. Parents would send away their children, and hope they made it to Kenya where there were refugee camps provided by the United Nations. Along the way several were lost, several were taken by military governement, and/or rebels, and several died. Some only had a memory of their family, slowly fading into the shadows.




Work Cited Page


Travis, Truitt "A Sudanese Survivor: Refugee's Journey From "Lost Boy" to Self-Sufficiency Inspired Others" Chicago Talks January 24, 2010. Web. February 4, 2010.

"Sudan Second Civil War" Military. Global Security, April 24, 2005. Web. February 4, 2010

Photograph
Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000. 71.