This Doesn’t Look Like Unity

By Rebecca Hamilton

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010

KHARTOUM, Sudan—”You see my home? You see my situation?” the chief from Tonj in southern Sudan asked me. Six wooden sticks were the sturdiest part of a shack that housed the chief and about 20 of his people in one of Khartoum’s poorest suburbs. Woven grass and bamboolike material formed a roof that rain would pour straight through. There were no walls. Children between about 2 and 10 years old approached me cautiously, giggling when they came close. Several had orange-tinged hair, a sign of malnourishment. None were in school. “I have stayed here for 21 years, and I have failed to find a home or a job. How can I possibly send my children to school?” the chief asked, indignant that I had posed the question. Read rest of the article as it was originally published here.