Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan is a human rights and development organization.

Sudan, Africa

London, Ontario, Canada | casscanada.net | cass.can@sympatico.ca

Revenue Canada charitable registration BN: 86394 8212 RR0001

Passion for Sudan Team

The "Passion for Sudan" team travelled to Sudan in January of 2007. Following are the personal reflections of Hayley MacKinnon.

After getting through the very difficult questions while interviewing the women and girls in the markets, I thought that I had a great question to ask them. I also thought that their answers would bring a smile to my face. This is where my "western" ideals come in. The question was: "If you didn't have to worry about money, or the store you're minding, if you could be anything, what would you want to be." I thought that their answers might be similar to how our girls would answer... i.e. a veterinarian or a doctor or something more grand. I was naive.

When they look at me with their confused eyes and answered that they wouldn't be anything else because there would be no one to make sure the business was run, I felt disappointed. What struck me over the course of our time in Sudan was not that this answer continuously came from girls as young as 12 years old. What struck me was the difference between the answers from the girls and women that were not involved in the micro-business program and those who were.

I didn't understand until closer to the end of our trip that the girls we spoke to in the markets didn't have big ideas and dreams for their future because until peace came recently, there was a very real chance that they would not have had any future at all. They still live their lives to survive from day to day. This is all they have ever known.

I did, however, notice a big difference in them compared to the girls we spoke to who were involved in the micro-credit business and sewing programs. The answer of 14 year old Elizabeth sticks out in my mind. When I asked her abut her plans for the future, she replied that after she had finished running her successful business in the market, she planned on going to school. She also talked about saving money in the future to buy a bicycle. The girls faces lit up when they thought about the possibilities and their futures. They have spent some time thinking about what they want to do and how they can better their lives. An opportunity not afforded to them in the past.

There was a banner hanging from one of the tukels that caught my eye and really brought home the importance of these programs. The sign read "Educating a girl is educating a nation". I saw first hand how these programs are not only teaching the girls invaluable skills, but more importantly, they are shaping the way that these girls see their future. They have hope for something more. That something more has the ability to change the future of Sudan.

I am thankful to all of you for giving us the opportunity to share a piece of our experience in Sudan, and about the people who have left us forever marked. I hope that through this you gain a more compassionate understanding of the situation in Sudan and of the undeserved circumstances of everyday Sudanese life. I can no longer close my eyes and pretend that this suffering does not exist and I can no long convince myself that there is nothing I can do.

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