Jag fick nyss ett mejl från Sudan och en mycket bra beskrivning av landet. Kan vara intressant för några att läsa.

When I talk to people at home, I discovered people have no idea where Sudan is. When they hear Sudan, they think it is the same as Darfur, but Darfur is a province in the west and is as big as France. Sudan for that matter is as big as Europe and takes about 8% of all of Africa. North of Juba, the capital of south Sudan is a swamp area as big as Belgium. Another thing people don't realize is that Sudan has pyramids as well, smaller than in Egypt, but they were even more in number. Unfortunately they were plundered and not many are left.

Sudan borders in the north with Libya and Egypt, the east mainly with Ethiopia and a small part with Eritrea, the south with Kenya, Uganda and the Congo. The west borders with the Central African Republic and Chad. Nine countries in all!

About 600 different tribes and groups of people call Sudan home, using about 150 different languages. Some are Nomads others are farmers. And maybe you can understand that a farmer can't really appreciate a Nomad crossing his fields with a couple of hundred cows! This is a real problem and when in former days they would fight with spears, they use Kalashnikovs now which creates even a bigger problem.

This is one of the things that boggles my mind time and again that people raise their children in hating another tribe, even when they live in a city like Khartoum, the hatred still stands. Another clear division is the two main groups; Africans and Arabs.

The later live in the north which, due to their believe, is very Arabic. The Africans live in the south and are Christians. Somehow this has always led to conflicts. The southerners were reckoned to be good slaves and they are still being used as such by the other main group. Regularly their villages are being attacked, people captured and the remains burned. This not only happens in the south, we often hear it's been done in other places too. Even in this town people disappear, never to be seen again.

The Nile runs through Khartoum, the White- and Blue Nile actually meet in Khartoum. The White Nile comes as far as Uganda, the Blue comes from Ethiopia.

During the rainy season, like now, the Nile rises extremely high and floods its banks.

People usually cultivate the land but flee to higher places until the water level goes down again. Then they start cultivating all over again.

The money received for the oil and other natural recourses used to only go to the north. In addition in the 1990th it was tried, to impose the sharia, the special law, on the whole country of the Sudan. This resulted in war, one that would last at least 20 years!

It is believed that almost 6 million people fled their homes. The exact number will never be known. Around Khartoum itself, about 2 million people have tried and are still trying to make a home for themselves with handmade bricks and other material. Once in a while, when Khartoum needs expanding, a bulldozer comes and eradicates everything and people are once again pushed further into the desert. Many fled to Kenya, Uganda and the Congo too. In 2005 a Peace agreement was signed with the intension to equally divide the resources and the power. There will be elections next year and in 2011 a final decision should be made if Sudan is staying together or will be split up in two.

I do hope it has become clearer to you where Sudan is situated and what the internal struggles are. Now you may understand as well that in writing and phone calls, I should be aware how to express myself wisely. Rules are strict and many things are sensitive and can't be discussed. It may have big consequences if you do so.