A Country of Contrasts

Volume 3 1995

Sudan is the largest country in Africa. It Is also the most difficult to travel across. It is a country of contrasts stretching from the equatorial rainforests and swamps of the Sudd in the South, through the Nuba, Jebel Marra and Red Sea mountain ranges to the Sahara Desert in the North. Even today a large section of this vast country remains to be explored. It is one of the world’s last frontiers.

Sudan takes up 8% of the African continent and 2% of the world’s land surface. It is about one-third of the size of the USA. There are only 28 million people in this vast area but they constitute over 140 ethnic groups and speak 117 languages. Here too the contrasts are great - between the Muslim Arabs of the North (70% of the population), and the Christian Blacks (20%) and Animists (10%) of the South. Arabic is the official language of the Muslim North and English has been chosen as the official language of the rebel controlled South!

Sudan is only for the hardiest and most adventurous travellers. It is as hot as a furnace from March to September, and the rainy season transforms the roads and tracks (where they exist) into thick streams of mud. The only kind of vehicle that can survive the harsh terrain is a four wheel drive. Driving in Sudan is extremely tough on both the vehicles and their occupants. Our mission team took 12hrs to drive just 180km. On another stretch of road two very determined motorcyclists took 3hrs to cover just 2km in loose sand. The unbearable heat often persuades travellers to do their driving at night. Temperatures of 48C or more are not unusual in the North. Even in the “cooler” South temperatures of 37C with humidity at 80% or more is common. By way of contrast it can be bitterly cold at night, particularly in the desert areas where it can even reach freezing point!

The South is covered by savannah, elephant grass, swamps and forests. Elephants, buffaloes, lions, cheetahs, leopards, giraffes, zebra, hippopotamuses, antelope, chimpanzees, baboons and crocodiles are present in fair numbers. Snakes, scorpions and tsetse flies are also quite common.

The heat in the South is so intense that the White Nile loses about 60% of its water in evaporation as it passes through the Sudd. The Sudd is an area the size of Pennsylvania which is transformed into a swamp during the rainy season.

International human rights and relief agencies rate Sudan as amongst the five countries in the world with the worst score on the “human suffering index”. In terms of the availability of clean drinking water, daily calorie intakes, education, political freedom, civil rights and life expectancy, Sudan rates as having the highest level of suffering and the lowest level of freedom in the world.

The Sudanese are some of the very poorest people on earth. Yet they are also some of the most generous and hospitable. Strangers are welcomed into homes for tea, food, fellowship and a place to stay overnight. Even on buses, trains, ferries and camel caravans, Sudanese people will usually share whatever food or drink they may have with those around them.

Potentially, Sudan is a wealthy country. The Red Sea Hills have substantial mineral deposits and there are identified oil reserves in the South West and North West of Sudan. With Africa’s largest river, the Nile, flowing through it, Sudan has immense agricultural and pastoral potential. Yet the scorched earth policies of the Islamic government have devastated the South. What was once called the “Breadbasket of North Africa” has become the site of the worst man-made famine in the world. About 2 million people have died since 1983 as a result of either the war or the famine. Five million more people have lost their homes and are internal refugees.

The war continues to cost the Khartoum government US $2 million a day. The national debt of the government of Sudan is over US $13 billion (50% more than the Gross Domestic Product). Sudan cannot even pay the interest on its debts. Imports outweigh exports by about 20 to 1.

Unemployment is very high. The average annual income per worker is $420 (2% of USA average). Inflation has averaged
50% to 200%. The price of bread rose 500% in one year.

Despite having the greatest concentration of medical needs on the continent, the shortage of doctors is severe. Malaria, tuberculosis, meningitis, hepatitis, trachoma, bilharzia and dysentery are common. Yet there are only about 4 000 doctors (one for every 6 500 people) in Sudan according to official statistics.

However, these medical practitioners are concentrated in and around Khartoum. In the South there is one doctor for every 83 000 people. Several relief workers have been killed in the war (mostly executed by government militia, for providing first aid to wounded rebels). This has hardly encouraged the relief agencies nor has it stimulated the tourist industry. What it has helped to stimulate is emigration. Over 70% of the country’s trained doctors and surgeons have left the country.

Aside from famine, disease, persecution and war, Western Sudan is plagued by bandits who are not inclined to stop at robbing their victims. Torture and murder are their specialities. The National Islamic Front police and security forces are little better. The arrival of foreigners is often seen as a rare opportunity to (slowly) flex the muscles of their bureaucratic obstructionism and to test their (considerable) harassment skills.

Yet while Sudan is the site of the most vicious anti-Christian persecution raging anywhere in the world today - the Church is growing faster in Sudan than anywhere else I know of. It would appear that more Muslims are coming to Christ in Sudan than anywhere else in the world. Twenty years ago the Christians made up 5% of the total population. Today Christians comprise over 20% of Sudan (and 80% of Southern Sudan). Sudan is a land of extremes and contrasts.

Peter Hammond

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